Two of a Kind
by Lucifer-Allheart
Summary: An old saying in Martial Arts goes; 'To defeat your enemy, you must first defeat yourself.' But what can you do, when you are the enemy? Can you defeat yourself? What will Gohan do, now that the ultimate enemy has been revealed: Gohan himself.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: don't own DBZ, any of its characters or anything related to it. if I did, I would be far richer then I am now.

* * *

"Phew." The blue-haired woman sighed as she leaned back in her seat. "Finally done writing down that theory. I'm glad you could help me, kid." She added as she looked at her black-haired partner.

Gohan, for his part, didn't look as nearly as pleased as Bulma was.

"Yeah, but even what we discussed today is right, we're still a long way removed from actually creating a usable application." The young half-breed said. "I mean, we finally managed to create a reasonably solid theory on increasing cellular regeneration, but this form is completely unusable."

"Don't be so gloomy, it doesn't suit you." Bulma said as she lit a cigarette. "Coffee?" She asked as she grabbed her own mug and handed it to the servant-drone.

"No thanks, I should be going home soon. I'm almost late for dinner as it is. See you next week?" The teenager said as he stood up from the chair. "I'll see if I can think about some means for allowing the cells to regenerate without causing the rapid aging. I'll let you know if I think of something."

"Gohan, we've already made a huge breakthrough with what we have." The experienced scientist said, stopping her godson in his tracks. "Let's first make sure our theory actually works before trying to improve it. If we're right, we're on the right way to creating Regenerative Pods of our own. Imagine what could be done if we could perfect them?"

"Yeah, the possibilities for the medical world would be nearly unlimited. We'd be able to cure people who've lost limbs, have permanent scarring and perhaps even internal injuries. With a little luck, the pods might even be able to fix neurological injuries like Parkinson's Disease…" the half-breed said with excitement. "But right now, it's still pretty useless. People generally want to live long and happy lives, not age twelve years in a couple of minutes just so they can regain a lost fingernail."

"Well, yes, that's true." Bulma admitted as she pulled her now full mug from the robot. "But still, we'll have to test if this theory is correct first, and then we can start improving it so that it won't increase the age of the subject. This would all be so much easier if we could just examine one of the Regenerative Pods from Frieza's empire…" she added with another sigh as she took a sip of coffee. "Aargh, sweet and strong, just the way I like it."

"Well, tell that to Vegeta." Gohan said with a laugh. "He's the one who had to go out and destroy Frieza's entire empire when he was out in space all those years ago, still trying to become a super saiyan. Add to that the fact that Trunks blew up Frieza's ship when he first arrived and all the Regenerative Pods that we could possible examine are all destroyed. And we can't even go and visit the race that had originally created them, because Frieza and his family had already destroyed all of them except for the ones who served him… Oh well; tough luck." He concluded with a shrug of the shoulders. "Anyway, Bulma, I gotta fly. Are the three of you still coming for dinner on Wednesday?"

"Of course, there's no way I'd miss out on a chance to catch up with Chichi and #18, and there's no way that Trunks and Vegeta would let one of Chichi's home cooked dinners escape. So I'll see you then?"

"Yeah, see you then. Bye-bye."

His business concluded, Son Gohan walked out of the Capsule Corporation and, once in their lawn, put on his coat before shooting off in the air.

"I gotta hurry if I still want to eat." The young hybrid said to himself. "If I'm not home soon, Goten will have eaten all the food."

XxX

Three and a half hours and a twelve course dinner later, Gohan was sitting at his desk. His mom had told him to go and finish up his homework, but he had already finished it weeks ago. The workload given by Orange Star High was nowhere near as high as the one his mother had placed on him all those years. High School was as much fun as his mother had always told him it'd be. He didn't really need to do all that much, he had made a couple of good friends and it gave him plenty of time to think on his research with Bulma.

In fact, in the year and a half that he had been at Orange Star High, he had been much more inspired for new theories and the like then ever before. In those eighteen months, Bulma and Gohan had successfully completed no less then three complete projects. Considering the fact that normally, their scientific projects took them the better part of a year, it was really quite an improvement.

Knowing that neither his mother nor Goten would disturb him -Goten had been taught from a young age to _never_ disturb Gohan while he was studying, unless he wanted to face an annoyed Gohan and a very angry Chichi- Gohan leaned back in his chair and looked at his desk. Contrary to what most people thought of the eldest child of Chichi, his desk was not highly organized and clean enough to eat from. Instead, there was a healthy collection of stray pens, pencils and used pieces of paper scattered all over it. But the back of Gohan's desk was completely clean. On that part of the desk stood several photos of Gohan's friends and family.

The first picture was one of the oldest there was. It was an image of Gohan's father Goku, wearing his fighting gi. Next to Goku stood Chichi, nearly twenty years younger then she was now, smiling happily as she held up the baby Gohan. It was Gohan's favorite picture of his father, because Goku wasn't looking directly into the camera, instead being more occupied with tickling the exposed belly of his son.

The second picture in the line was the one picture that held the most memories for the teenager. It was a picture that had been taken the day before the Cell-games. Gohan and Goku stood in the centre of the picture, their hair gold and eyes green, while being surrounded by all their friends and family. Chichi, the Ox King, Krillin, Bulma – who was holding the baby Trunks- Yamcha, Tien, Chiaotzu, Oolong, Puar, Master Roshi, Dende, Mister Popo, the Trunks from the Future, the gigantic Android #16, Bulma's father and mother, Korin, Yajirobi, Turtle, Icarus, Baba and even Vegeta and Piccolo had shown up for it.

The third picture was taken about a year ago and had Gohan holding Goten and Trunks in his arms, while Marron sat on his shoulders with a fistful of hair in each of her hands. Combined with the two double punches he had just been given in the stomach, courtesy of the two half-Saiyans he was holding, Gohan's face looked both amused and slightly pained. Gohan knew the same picture adored the walls of all three youngsters. Vegeta had been highly annoyed when he'd first seen the picture on Trunks' wall.

The last picture was the most recent one, having been taken roughly two months ago. It was a picture of Gohan with his friends from school. Erasa and Videl were hugging on it, standing in front of Sharpener and Gohan. Sharpener had placed on arm around Gohan's neck, hanging on him as he tickled Videl's side. This had, in turn, caused Videl to nearly fall into Erasa, who threatened to topple over before Gohan caught and stabilized her. Thomas, a classmate of theirs, had taken the picture at that exact moment, when they were all in contact with each other. It was, by far, Gohan's favorite picture.

He couldn't help it, but every time he was near Videl his mouth would shut up and his stomach would start doing twists. He would always laugh at all her jokes, tease her every now and then like Sharpener did when she was in a sour mood, and generally enjoyed spending time with her. His mother had long ago noticed the change in his behavior and diagnosed it: he was in love.

On some level he agreed with his mother, but he wasn't really sure. Was he really in love with the attractive young Satan, or was it so that he simply desired her? That he only thought she looked really great and that he wanted to share his bed with her –in all the meanings of the word- because she was, as Sharpener so subtly put it, _hot_?

Switching on the TV in his room, the demi-Saiyan was thrown into a martial arts display by Videl. He had tuned in on the exact right moment too: the girl had just her left leg and was holding it completely parallel with her own body, showing a surprising amount of balance and flexibility. From there, Videl moved on to demonstrate a powerful axe kick, and went into several more stances and attacks for another twenty minutes before Gohan changed the channel.

Two hours later, as Gohan lay in his bed there was a stray thought in his mind.

'_I'm pretty sure I'll be visited by Videl again tonight… wonder what we'll do now?_'

Hoping for a dream that was at least as fascinating as the last one, the part-human closed his eyes and began drifting off to sleep.

XxX

Monday morning, half past eight, found one still sleepy Videl Satan wondering through the streets of her hometown. She hated waking up early on Mondays – in fact, she hated getting up early, _period_! -… especially since not even her dreams gave her any real rest lately. For the past couple of months, whenever she drifted off to sleep, she would have a visitor in her dreams. A tall, muscular, cute, spiky-haired visitor that she knew very well. And, although the dreams started out innocently enough- her first dream was of Gohan coming over to help her with homework- they were anything but innocent now. In fact, just last night…

As Videl let her mind stray to more personal area's -area's that not even Erasa had ever heard about- she let her feet walk the usual path to school, not even bothering to pay attention. She didn't need to, because she always walked the same route. Then, as she vividly remembered the kisses that Dream Gohan had given her all over her body, there was a sudden loud noise next to the World's Most Famous Daughter.

Shocked out of her fantasies, Videl quickly turned to the origin of the noise, only to come face-to-front with a large truck. Videl had crossed the road without watching and had stepped out just in front of the truck. There was no way she was going to be able to move aside, and the truck was too close to hit the brake either…

Before Videl even had a chance to close her eyes, there was a sudden pull on her shirt and she was roughly pulled back on the streets. Crashing into someone, assuming it to be her savior, Videl could see a flash of short, black hair before she fully opened her eyes.

'_Did Gohan just save my life?_' she thought to herself, silently hoping for it. But as she opened her eyes, she saw that she was wrong. She was laying on top of an woman a couple of years older then she was, who had free-flowing, shoulder-length brown hair, who looked just as surprised to see Videl as Videl was to see her.

Meanwhile, the truck had pulled to a stop and the driver had gotten out, a pissed off look on his face.

"Missy," he started, pointing at the still dumbstruck Videl, "You really need to watch where you're going! Next time you might not be able to jump out of the way like that. Daughter of Hercule or not, I doubt even you can take a hit from a moving truck. Don't give me a scare like that."

"I'm sorry sir," Videl said as she got up, her face now resembling a gigantic tomato, "It won't happen again… I… I wasn't paying attention to where I was going… I'm sorry."

Meanwhile, her thoughts were taking a different route.

'_Ok, I have got to stop thinking about Gohan and his sexual activities in my dreams… if this goes on, it'll get me killed. But he IS really cute, and muscular. And his butt is really great to see as well. Aargh, Bad Videl! STOP thinking those thoughts, they're only for when you're in bed!_'

The truck driver turned around, accepting her apology, and was quickly driving once again. Videl turned around to see the woman that she had landed on and quickly thanked her, apologizing for landing on top of her at the same time, before the raven-haired fighter continued her way to school.

When she was walking away a few minutes later, she suddenly realized about her hallucination of her savior's hair. She had thought it was that familiar short, spiky black hair, while the woman that Videl had landed on brown hair…

'_Ok, just because I like the guy, I'm beginning to see phantoms everywhere. This has got to stop._' Videl scolded herself, before realizing something. '_And these internal monologues have to go as well… I'm really going mental._'

Now sulking with herself slightly, Videl continued her walk to the school. Just as she reached the school-gates, though, another realization suddenly hit her.

'_Wait a second, that truck-driver said that I'd jumped back…_' she thought, '_But I didn't, someone pulled me back… but who could that have be-_'

"Hey girl, how're you doing today?" Erasa suddenly asked as she jumped Videl from behind. The experienced martial artist could barely stop herself from an intimate nose-first meeting with the ground by stepping forward. "Whoops, sorry." The blond airily said as she dropped back to the floor. "So, what's eating at you? You're never that far away."

"There's nothing eating at me." Videl's venomous reply was. "I'm still tired and wish I was back in my bed, sleeping as long as I want." Despite the good, almost cheerful, mood Videl had experienced earlier, she was now at school and that always made her a bit grumpy.

"Erasa, I told you once and I told you a million times." Another voice, this one obviously male, said from behind the Orange Star Queen of Gossip. "Don't mess with Videl on Monday Moring. She's as grumpy and grouchy as can be on Mondays."

"And a good morning to you too, Sharpener." Videl said, not even looking up as she looked at the tall and muscular blond male. "And I'm NOT grumpy or grouchy!"

"Sure you're not Vi; you're always our little ray of sunshine. I mean; you _never_ get angry or annoyed with someone, and you _never_ attempt to bite someone's head off just because they're standing in your way…" Sharpener replied with heavy sarcasm.

"I do _not_ try to bite people's heads off… and I only got pissed at Albert once because he was annoying me all the time with his stupid remarks!" Videl defended herself.

"Oh sure that's one time." Sharpener said, putting a hand on her head and ruffling her hair. He knew that, more then anything else would get her pissed at him but he enjoyed teasing her. "But how about that time that you nearly kicked Thomas, who I might add never makes an annoying remark, just because he sneezed too loud? Or when you nearly punched me at that sleepover? Or maybe that time that -"

"Alright, I get it; you've been keeping a close eye on me, now shut up! What's your point?" the black-haired girl replied. At the same time, she continued her walk towards the school, with the other two catching up and walking next to her.

"Geez Videl, what is it you want?" Sharpener teased. "Do you want me to shut up, or tell you what my point is?"

"Why are you so damn annoying on a Monday morning? It's way too early for you to be so sharp." Videl replied with obvious annoyance.

"It's all in the name babe." The blond smoothly replied. "Well, I also had a really good sleep, along with a nice dream. How about you, Vi? Any more nice dreams you wanna mention? Maybe some more dreams that include You-Know-Who?"

Instead of answering, Videl turned around and started glaring at her best male friend full force.

"I am NEVER going to let you anywhere near by house ever again if you keep this up. I'm telling you, I was joking back then. I knew you were still awake and I wanted to mess with you…" Videl valiantly tried to keep up her old lie, but it was no use. These two had known her for far too long and knew her far too well.

"Yeah sure girl." Erasa said, catching up on the teasing. "You where moaning Gohan's name just to fool us? So _not_ your style."

"What's not Videl's style?" a fourth voice suddenly asked from behind them. Videl and Erasa instantly went rigid with fear. Both their minds were racing with the exact same thought.

'_How much did Gohan just hear?_'

"She's trying to lie by telling us that she's just a bit tired and that's why Erasa got the jump on her this morning." Sharpener smoothly lied, not missing a beat. "And now she's trying to cover it up by switching subjects, which is not her style."

"Yeah," Erasa quickly added, knowing that Gohan would by the lie anyway, "But she's not telling us anything about what was really on her mind. What'd you think it was Gohan?"

"I'm telling you, I wasn't distracted, I was just tired!" Videl nearly shouted as she opened her locker. Gohan, Sharpener and Erasa did the same, since their lockers were all next to each other.

"Oh well guys, I don't know." Gohan said as he looked over his schedule. "I didn't see Videl so I can't judge it at all. Maybe she really is tired? Oh, by the way what subjects do we have first? I forgot."

"What's this?" Sharpener asked in mock shock. "Did our Walking Book forget his classes? That simply cannot do! What will happen to you if you can't even remember something as basic as that, Book-Boy?"

"And why would I want to remember it myself, when I have you: the Walking Timetable. You have the entire timetable completely memorized for some reason." the black-haired hybrid replied.

"Yeah, so I at least know what classes I should go to and what I can skip." Sharpener replied as he looked into his locker. "Anyway, first we have a double hour of your favorite subject."

"What, math?"

"No, Book-Boy, physics." An annoyed reply came from the locker, followed by a more muffled "Where did I leave that notebook? I know it's in here somewhere…"

"Oh great, I could have just skipped the first two hours then. I could have had a lie in. you should have told me that earlier, you Talking-Time-Table." Gohan nearly whined. Physics was, to him, an extremely boring subject because he was already working with far-above-master-level physics for his projects with Bulma.

"Oh, can it Book-Boy." Sharpener's voice was muffled, followed by a quick, and much more muffled, "Ah, good found it. Aargh, that hurts. Why do the damn things always collapse when you get something?"

From inside the locker, there was the definite sound of a tower of books and notes collapsing as Sharpener re-emerged, now rubbing a red point on his hand.

"You're always talking about skipping classes, but you never do. If you did, I'm pretty sure your mom would flay you alive. So don't act all that tough, you do-goody, wannabe-saint Book-Boy."

"Ehm guys, we're kinda drifting away from the subject here." Erasa interrupted as she watched the antics between the male best friends. "We were talking about Videl and her reason for being so absent-minded." This return to the original subject was enough for Videl to start glaring at Erasa full force, but before the raven-haired fighter had a chance to speak up, the conversation already continued.

"I still say she's thinking about some boy." Sharpener instantly replied. At once, all three placed their full attention on the long-haired man. Because he was now watching Sharpener, Gohan missed the terrified look that was displayed on Videl's face, and he didn't see the shock on Erasa's face either. Unabashed, the blond man continued.

"It's easy, she had the same look in her eyes as almost every girl in this school does when they're thinking about me!" he arrogantly proclaimed in a joking tone. "That Look of being totally smitten, absolutely love struck and what-not. I get it all the time."

At this point, both Videl and Erasa where making very vocal displays of an imitation of throwing up. Gohan, on the other hand, merely laughed at the behavior. As the school bell rang, signaling the beginning of their class Sharpener and Videl were walking side-by-side, while Erasa and Gohan took the lead.

"You owe me for that one." he told the dark-haired girl. "Not only did I save you from some serious embarrassment, I've now got some evidence that Gohan likes you back. Did you see the look on his face when I said you were thinking about a guy?"

XxX

After yet another uneventful week at school, Erasa was walking down the streets of Satan City. She had just left the Satan Mall and was now headed to the Star Shopping Centre a little ways down the road, hoping they would have a cute top she could buy and wear while it was still nice weather out. According to the weather reports, it would stay nice for a bit longer then expected, which meant that she wouldn't have enough nice and fresh looking outfits to last the entire summer.

So, Erasa had chosen this very nice Saturday afternoon to do some shopping. Sharpener was out visiting a relative of his, Videl was still training and Gohan always had work to do in weekends, so the bubbly blond was all alone in her shopping for the time being.

That meant that the shopping wasn't nearly as fun as it could have been, but right now she was shopping for a reason, not amusement. She needed to get some new clothes again, and fast. After all, what if someone else, like Angela or someone, would suddenly have more variation in clothes then her? The rumors that would start flying around…

Just as Erasa was lost in the horrible thoughts of the rumors-that-could-be if she didn't manage to get some more new clothes, she didn't notice the slumped man that suddenly bumped into her. Being the very light, teenage girl that she is Erasa was instantly pushed aside and started falling. For one terrible second, she thought she was going to fall on her butt, which would really hurt, before someone started pulling her up.

The pull, instead of lifting her entire body, only lifted one arm however, causing Erasa to suddenly rotate as her purse was lifted from arm. In that one millisecond before she hit the ground, she realized that the man who had bumped into her must have been a purse-snatcher. On pure reaction, she turned to her side, allowing herself to fall on the ground with minimal damage done to her body. At the same time, she could see a shadow darting past her. Looking in the direction of the thief, she was surprised to see a muscular arm in a white coat shooting out grabbing the thief's collar before he even made three steps. As the thief was suddenly pulled back, someone jumped on the law-breaker as soon as he landed on the ground, effectively pinning the arms of the thief to the side.

"Are you alright, Erasa?"

Looking up in surprise, Erasa was face-to-face with no-one other then Son Gohan. But he looked quite different from how she normally knew him. Normally Gohan wore a yellow sweater or long-sleeve shirt and red pants at school, making him look very cute but geeky. This outfit was much more fitting.

Gohan was now wearing some white pants, along with a fitting jacket. The pants looked something like jeans, but were made of a much softer fabric, which looked very good on the spiky-haired youth. The jacket was made of the same material and reached a bit past his waist. With the sleeves rolled up to half-way up his lower arms, it looked very nice. Completing the new look was a simple black shirt that covered his body. The shirt was cut a bit deep, showing a teasing look of Gohan's chest by revealing only his clavicle and a bit of his sternum.

"Wow, Gohan…" she began, too shocked to say much more. "Where'd you come from?"

"I got the day off, so I decided to go and look around town a bit." Erasa's savior quickly explained, his eyes darting between his captive and Erasa herself. "Anyway, are you alright?" Gohan repeated the question.

"Yeah, yeah I'm ok. I just got a bit of a scare, nothing big."

Satisfied with her answer, Gohan didn't say anything more until the police had already come by and picked the thief up. The testimony from over twenty people standing around was enough to guaranty Gohan's safety from the course of law, so Gohan and Erasa were free to go as they pleased. It had taken the police a mere five minutes to interrogate both teenagers, saying that they would probably be called if there was any need to hear their story again.

"So ehm, Gohan…" Erasa began, having already thanked him many times during their wait. "You wanna go and drink a cup of coffee or something?"

"I'd love too." the handsome male replied with a dashing smile. For some reason, Erasa could feel her cheeks glowing ever so slightly.

Nearly half an hour later, the two of them were still seated a nearby coffeehouse.

"Man, I can't believe my luck though." Erasa said as their conversation drifted back to the near-robbery. "What're the chances of you being around when something like that happens?"

"Well, I was actually shopping for some new clothes." Gohan admitted with a small blush. "I was on my way to the Satan Mall after I'd checked Star Shopping Centre and not finding anything I wanted."

"For real?!" Erasa exclaimed right away, her eyes alight with happy lights. "Me too! Wanna go shopping together for the rest of the day? We can help each other out with choosing clothes and stuff. It'll be so much fun!"

"Yeah, sure; Sounds like a plan." the young hero said with a smile. As he stood up to pay for their coffee's, insisting that he pays instead of splitting the bill, a stray thought entered Erasa's head.

'_I could definitely fall for a guy like Gohan. He's good looking, physically fit, smart and well mannered. He's almost the perfect guy…_'

XxX

The next Monday, after yet another day of boredom at school, Videl was walking home by herself. Erasa had a job interview to go to, Sharpener had gone to the gym to work on his muscles some more and Gohan had left quickly because he had a long trip home. So, now the daughter of Hercule was strolling down the street on her own, enjoying the nice weather as she went. According to the weather forecast, it would start raining pretty soon, so she'd have to treasure these last couple of days with excellent weather.

'_Speaking of excellent, Erasa was in a particularly fine mood today._' The martial artist realized as she rounded a corner, entering the Satan City Park. On such a nice day, she'd enjoy as much nature as she could.

'Maybe she has a new boyfriend or something?' Videl opted, listing the things that would make her best friend even more cheerful then normal. '_I know she went clothes shopping this weekend, but that's no explanation that she's this cheerful. There must be something else that's also going on. Maybe it has something to do with that strange savior that everyone is talking about?_'

Ever since about five weeks ago, there had been rumors flying around at Orange Star High about some 'mysterious, handsome guy' who was saving girls left and right, but never revealed who he was. None of the guys really believed in it, claiming the man to be an imaginary savior, but he was the subject of conversation amongst the girls.

'_Maybe Erasa had to be saved from something as well and met Mr. Mysterious?_' yet another theory that could work…

Completely absorbed in the newest theory concerning Erasa, Videl didn't pay the slightest bit of attention to her surroundings anymore. After all, she knew this route just as well as all the others. And there was no chance of getting hit by a truck, or even a car, because they where forbidden in the park.

So, as Videl was thinking of possible-future-would-be-boyfriends-that-Erasa-might-like, Videl never saw the small, green projectile that was coming her way until it actually hit her.

-SPLASH-

In an instant, Videl's white shirt became soaked, along with her sport shorts and even her face as the water-balloon hit her straight in the chest. In the same instant, the loud cheering that had been going on around her suddenly stopped.

As Videl, still dumbstruck, looked down at her now-soaked shirt, a young boy of around seven, wearing swimming trunks, shyly walked up to her.

"Ehm, ma'am, I'm sorry." The boy said, unable to look her in the eye. "I… I didn't see you there, I'm really sorry I hit you with that balloon. Are you alright?"

Noticing the scared look, along with the apologizing sound of his voice, Videl couldn't be angry at the boy – it was, after all, her own fault for not paying attention.

"No, it's ok. Don't worry about it. I needed something to cool me off anyway." she quickly said, cheering the boy up again. With another quick apology, the boy turned around and quickly returned to the game of warfare he was holding with his friends.

Taking another look down her thoroughly soaked and now see-through shirt, Videl released a sigh. '_Guess I'll draw some attention on the way back home…_'

The thought had barely been finished, when suddenly someone placed a new piece of clothing, a few sizes to big for Videl, around her shoulders. Looking up, Videl was surprised to see Gohan standing behind her, having placed a white jacket over her shoulders. She instantly noticed the difference with how he normally looked: not only were his clothes very different, but there was a smooth and amused look on his face that she had never seen at school.

"I figured you wouldn't want to go home with the entire city being able to see through your shirt." Her classmate said with a laugh as he saw Videl's questioning look. Nervous, Videl glanced down quickly and saw that she now had a clear view of her own bra. She quickly pulled the white jacket closed and buttoned it up.

"Yeah thanks." Videl answered him as she stood up. The jacket, while nice and warm, was far too large for her. Even though they were rolled up a little, the sleeves still fell far past her hands and the jacket itself nearly fell past her knees. All in all, it must have looked quite humorous, because Gohan was barely stopping himself from laughing.

A quick glare from Videl did shut him up, and it allowed Videl a better chance to check Gohan out. Now that he had given away his jacket, Videl could see the loose black t-shirt that he was wearing below it. It was cut deep to show a bit of his chest, but what really caught her attention were his now-bare arms. She hadn't expected Gohan to be quite _that_ muscular before…

"You approve of the new look?" Gohan teasingly asked her as she kept staring at him. At once, Videl turned completely crimson as she turned her head away.

"Ye-yeah, it looks good. Why don't you wear that to school?" She quickly asked, trying to buy some more time. She really didn't want to be seen by Gohan while she was that beat red…

"Yeah well, don't tell anyone I said this but…" Gohan started, leaning in a little closer so Videl would hear his whisper. "My mom told me I shouldn't wear such distracting clothes at school, it'd distract me from my studies…"

Now, it was Videl's turn to nearly laugh. Here was Gohan, straight A+ student extraordinaire, who was almost six feet tall and had enough muscle to take on Sharpener in arm-wrestling, and he was forced to look dorky in school by his mom?

"Hey, I'm serious here." Gohan defended himself as they continued walking. "My mom told me not to dress to flashy because that would only distract me. Of course, I'm free to change into something else when school's over."

"So you decided to quickly change into a completely different outfit, follow after me and offer me your jacket in the record-time of twenty minutes after school?"

At this Gohan merely shrugged.

"What can I say, I'm a fast changer and I needed to come to the park anyway."

"Well, I'm glad you did." Videl replied before she knew it. "If you hadn't shown up, I'd make front page news tomorrow morning; 'Daughter of Hercule streaks across the streets!'" she turned her voice a bit lower as she quoted the would-be headline.

"Yeah, although that would have been hilarious; Imagine how Sharpener would react to it…" the son boy said back, biting back a little laugh at the idea.

Neither said anything during the remains of their walk to Satan Manor, but when they reached the large gates, the two teenagers stumbled around for a bit. Neither really knew what to say.

"So ehm, you want to come in?" Videl asked shyly after a few seconds. She quickly continued, stumbling all the while. "Ehm, just so you can, you know, ehm, get a drink and- and talk a bit, yeah talk a bit while we wait for, ehm, for your jacket to get cleaned, because it's gotten pretty, I mean quite soaked… Wha-what do you say?"

"Oh, ehm, yeah, sure, I guess, I mean, I don't want to- you know- impose or anything or intrude or something like that and – well I guess a cup of tea would be nice…"

So, some ten minutes alter, both teenagers were sitting on the coach, each shifting around uncomfortably. The two cups of tea that had been brought hadn't even been touched yet, since both teenagers seemed hesitant to move. Finally, it was Gohan who broke the silence.

"So, back in the park, you took it pretty well. I mean, getting hit by the water-balloon of course."

"Well, he was a kid who was just playing around; he should be out and about playing. It was just a little accident, nothing really serious, and he apologized right away. I couldn't get angry at him over an accident. And I wasn't really paying all that much attention either." Videl answered before she realized what she'd just said. "I mean, I was still pretty surprised about being hit and all!" she quickly added, waving her hands in front of her.

"Aah, I thought so. But what was it you were thinking about when you were walking? I could see you coming ahead and you were really absorbed in your thoughts. You're never like that; you're always pretty sharp for what's going on around you." Gohan said, now looking Videl in the eye. It only served to make the Satan girl more nervous

"Oh, you ehm, you saw that?" Videl nervously asked. Gohan didn't say anything, instead nodding his head. "Yeah, well I was thinking about why Erasa was so much more cheerful then normal today. I mean, normally she's active, but today she was just hyper! Do you have any idea why that'd be?"

She purposely left out her suspicion of Erasa having a crush. No matter how much of a good friend, and hopefully soon boyfriend and lover, Gohan was, Videl wasn't going to sell out any unneeded facts about her best friend. And besides, what if she was completely wrong and Gohan assumed Videl's words for the truth? That could go horribly wrong in so many ways…

"Really, I didn't really notice it." Gohan answered, his smile reducing a little as the genius thought about it. "No, I can't think of any reason why she'd be more active and cheerful then normal either. You'll have to ask her about it tomorrow."

Just at that moment, Velicia, Videl's maid, walked into the sitting room carrying Gohan's jacket.

"Sorry to interrupt Videl, but I've just finished cleaning up your friend's jacket." She said as she handed the piece of clothing back to its owner. Gohan, for his part, accepted it with a word of thanks then pulled it back on. Videl was slightly disappointed that she'd lost the display of sculptured muscle, but Gohan still looked extremely good in those clothes.

Quickly draining his tea, Gohan excused himself and almost immediately left, with a quick "Goodbye Videl, see you tomorrow."

Just as soon as he'd left the room, being escorted to the exit by one of the butlers, Velicia turned around and winked at her charge.

"Wow, Videl, what a catch! I knew you had it in you. Just make sure to use protection while you're at it, I bet he could go on for hours with a body like his…"

Videl quickly left the room, leaving the twenty-something year old maid to her own fantasies as she moved to her own room. She let herself fall on her bed, belly first, and scanned the room for a bit. Her eyes stopped on the picture on her bedside table: it was a picture that showed Sharpener tickling Videl, who in turn caused Erasa to fall over and Gohan stabilizing Erasa by holding a hand on her back. It was definitely her favorite photo of her friends because it wasn't posed or anything. It was all pure, one hundred percent real.

As she looked at the small grin that was on Gohan's face in the image, she couldn't help but agree with Velicia's comments on Gohan.

"She's right: he is a great catch. And I wouldn't mind going at it with him for hours on end… Dear god, is this what I'm reduced too now? Fantasizing about having sex with Gohan? I really have it bad!"

* * *

The first chapter of my new story. Not to worry, it won't be anywhere near as long as Triple Identity or Naruto Arashiodori. I've got this story planned for around twenty or so chapters. As you've also probably noticed by now, this story has some more mature things then either of my previous stories, and it will go on to earn a true M rating later on. And no, it's not because of a lemon that's appearing in it… This story will be significantly darker then my other works, but wait and see what I'll pull out of my hat. Maybe you'll like it…

Anyway, this chapter is only a set-up for the next chapter. After that, we'll snowball into the real story pretty quick… in fact, there were some hints in this chapter already. Kudo's to those who manage to guess it before I reveal it.

I will add this story to my 'updated once a month' list, so expect to see three stories pop up from me once a month from now on.

And finally, a word about alteration in the storyline from DBZ: while Gohan has been attending High school for some time now, there has been no Buu Saga and he hasn't become Saiyaman either. Satan City is, right now, a peaceful city with relatively little crime. This'll be important later on in the story, but my apologies for changing Canon like that.

As always thanks to my beta Kushin eX.

And please review to tell me what you think.

Lucifer-Allheart


	2. Chapter 2

Two of a Kind chapter 2

Disclaimer: don't own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball GT or anything related to these series. If I did, Gohan would have had a much bigger and better part in the story.

* * *

As he looked over his shoulder to keep himself from falling asleep in yet another boring Physics lecture, Gohan once again saw Videl looking at him. Once they made eye contact, Videl blushed for a second before winking and turning back to face the teacher.

This had been going on for a while now; Gohan would catch Videl staring at him and then winking, something she had never done before. And when they were talking, Videl would sometimes cling to him a bit, holding his hand and once even linking arms, although admittedly that had been done as a joke. All in all, Videl was acting different ever since the weather had started turning bad about three weeks ago, being much more open with attempts at flirting with him.

Normally, this would have made the Son boy overjoyed, but there were too many questions roaming his mind at the sudden change in behavior. Once again, he started to list them in his head as he zoned out the teacher.

'_Why does Videl suddenly flirt with me openly? Did someone say something to her? Or did she realize that she's feeling the same things for me as I feel for her? Or,_' a very Sharpener-like voice in his head said, '_maybe she's realized how hot I am, as Erasa says, and wants to date me? But isn't this all wrong?_' he continued without pause. After all, his mother had raised him with some old-fashioned believes and he still had his masculine pride. '_I should be the one who's going after Videl, not the other way around… Maybe I should start returning her affections now instead of doubting myself this much. She's obviously showing some kind of interest in me, now might be my big chance of finally going out with her… _'

Just Gohan was preparing himself to have another whispered conversation with Videl, in that he could try to casually ask her if she had anything to do this Saturday and if not, she might want to join him to the cinema, the half-breed noticed someone else watching him. Looking around, he saw a couple of other girls in his class all looking at him with a look in their eyes similar to the one Videl wore when staring at him. This had also been happening with an increasing rate lately.

'_Maybe they're all in love with me?_' Gohan thought to himself, swelling with pride for a second. '_Nah, who am I kidding? That's just hopeful thinking… although it would be very nice if that was true._'

XxX

As soon as Videl entered her room she angrily tossed her bag on her bed and walked up to the punching bag hanging from her wall. Her fist crashed into the bag, swinging it backwards violently, and the Satan Girl began to relief her stress. She was beginning to get extremely frustrated with the object of her affections and all her dreams: Gohan.

The boy was an absolute enigma, he was unable to be read at all and he was completely unpredictable. If she didn't know any better, she'd almost say that there were two different Gohan's running around.

Whenever Videl met Gohan at school, sporting his usual geeky outfit and acting in his usual mild-mannered way, he was acting almost the same as he did a year and half ago, when he first came to school. He was nice, pleasant to be around and always interested in whatever you had to tell him, but whenever she attempted to flirt with him he didn't even react, sometimes appearing more shocked then anything else. The biggest difference was that Gohan was now paying her more attention then before, but she still wasn't actively returning her affections. He was still highly attractive, very cute and adorable in his geeky-ways, but it was frustrating because of what Videl knew.

Outside school, the Son boy made a full one-eighty in both his appearance and his behavior: instead of geeky and colorful clothes, he wore basic black-and-white clothing and was far cooler. He openly flirted with her a lot during the few times that they had met and wasn't afraid to show off a bit of muscle when he had the chance. The behavior of Gohan like that was surprising, challenging Videl and making her long for him that much more.

The difference between them was enough to seriously confuse and annoy the teenager, but there was something else that fueled her anger even more: Videl had long ago resigned herself to the fact that she was, in fact, in love with Son Gohan. But now it seemed that just about every other girl in their class, even Erasa – who had never, _ever_, tried to go after the same boy as Videl before -, were often staring at the black-haired teenager with longing in their eyes.

Videl's frustration was partly from the fact that everyone was ogling her man like that, but mostly from the fact that she couldn't stop them ogling him: after all, Gohan was officially still a single and therefore no-one could lay claim on him.

With one last furious kick, Videl tore the sandbag to shreds before turning to take a shower. Maybe that would help her relieve some of the stress?

XxX

As winter was fast-approaching them, Son Gohan once again dashed into the classroom a minute before the bell rang. As he moved towards his seat, he noticed the low number of people actually in class: it seemed like almost all the girls, excluding only Videl and two girls that Gohan didn't know, had not shown up for this class.

'_That's odd._' Gohan thought as he reached his seat. '_Erasa's never missing from class._'

The blond girl might do more gossip then actual studies, but she had never before missed a class. Her attendance record matched Gohan's perfectly: Erasa was a firm believer that if you heard something during a lecture, even when you weren't paying attention, you'd be able to remember it at an exam or some other stressed out period.

"Morning guys, how're you?" He cheerfully greeted as he sat down next to Videl. The black-haired girl gave him a friendly nod and a "Good morning" as well, while Sharpener only waved lazily as he balanced his chair on its hind legs.

"Where's Erasa? Normally she'd already be here." Gohan remarked as he sat down. Seeing that the lesson was about to begin, Sharpener moved the chair back into its original position before leaning towards Gohan and Videl.

"Erasa called me this morning and said that she wasn't feeling too good." The blond stated. "She said she'd had a rough night and isn't coming to school. She sounded like she had a really bad cold too. But then again, she isn't the only one is she?"

"No, she probably has the flue. It's winter after all, so there's usually a flu epidemic abound again." Videl dully replied. "Don't teachers ever understand that nine in the morning is too early for my brain to function properly?" she added in complain as the teacher started writing down several very complicated English sentences.

"Yeah, but it looks like it's mostly girls that are ill." Gohan observed. "There are only a couple of girls left in the class, but none of the guys have disappeared."

"Maybe it's a smart virus that only goes after intelligent creatures." Videl teasingly remarked.

"Well, that would explain why you haven't been infected yet." Sharpener immediately returned, shutting Videl up.

"Anyway, I'm going to go drop by Erasa's place and see how she's doing after school, you guys wanna come with me?" the blond muscle-bomb continued.

Both raven-haired teenagers shook their heads, declining the offer.

"I can't." Videl explained. "My dad has another press conference this afternoon that I have to attend. It's a live broadcast so I can't slip out of it either. I'll call her tonight and ask how she's doing. But tell her I said hi and want her to get better quick ok?"

"Will do; babe." Sharpener said, turning his attention on Gohan instead. "And what about you Brains? Why can't you come?"

"Well, my mom told me I have to babysit my brother and his best friend this afternoon… and if I'm not there when my mom tells me too, our entire house will be demolished before I even have a chance to ask what happened." Gohan quickly explained. "But give her my regards as well and tell her I hope she gets better quick."

"Sure thing; But Brains, you have really got to grow a pair and tell your mom that you're not her servant-boy. Get a little freedom and enjoy life, you know."

"Easy for you to say, you don't know my mom."

"True; true." Sharpener said, shaking his head in fake thought. "But judging from the stories you tell me about her, I don't think I want to know her."

"Is there something you would like to share with the entire class Mr. Pencil?" the teacher suddenly asked, surprising the three teens. When there was no answer from the group, the teacher spoke up again.

"Now that you're little tea-party is interrupted, may I continue my lesson again?" he asked with heavy sarcasm. "Thank you!"

XxX

'_What am I going to do about that guy?_'

Half past ten that same day, Videl was lying in her bed, staring at the ceiling in her normal sleeping clothes: a wide T-shirt and boxers. Videl had always worn boxers to sleep, claiming that she simply didn't like panties.

Still staring at the ceiling, there was once again only one object on her mind: the attractive, cute, muscular, smart and polite Son Gohan.

'_I don't know if I want to hit him, or kiss him sometimes. No matter what he does, he's always really cute and hot. But why does he have to act so different when he's inside school? Or is that the real him? AARGH, we girls are supposed to be the ones that are impossible to understand!_' Videl almost shouted in frustration. '_Guys are supposed to have an easy, one-tracked mindset, shouldn't they? Why do I have to fall in love with the ONLY guy in the world that is more difficult to understand then any girl?_'

Videl had actually intended to do something she had never done before today: she had planned on asking Erasa on advice for approaching Gohan and confessing her feelings. Although there had been no less then twelve people who had confessed their attraction to Videl in the past five years alone, Videl had never quite realized the pressure that came with so simple an act.

'_Maybe next time some guy confesses to me I should reject them a bit kinder…_' Videl realized as she went over yet another scenario in her head for how to confess. This time, it included Gohan being captured by some bandits, Videl beating up said bandits and in the heat of the moment, both would confess their undying love for each other.

'_Damn, I've really been watching too much crappy movies…_' The Satan Girl scolded herself. '_But now that I've decided I'm going to do it, I have to do it. __If__ I wait for Erasa to get better, we might be a few weeks along… and for all I know, someone else might get to Gohan first. I doubt he has it in him to reject anyone when they say something like that…_'

"Wait a second I still have to call Erasa!" Videl said as she sat up. She had, of course, tried to call her earlier, but it had been Erasa's mom Elanor who had picked up the phone. Elanor had said that Erasa was asleep and had asked Videl if she wanted to call back later or come by the day after herself.

So, now that it was as dark as could be outside, Videl got out of her bed to pick up the cell-phone that was lying on her desk. Reaching out to the mechanical device, she opened it and had already typed out Erasa's home-number when there was a sudden knock on her door. Surprised, Videl turned around to look at her door.

'_What does Daddy want this late at night? I thought he said he was going to go to bed early?_' She thought as she put down her phone again and walked to the door. None of the employees were still around at this hour, except for the cleaning crew but they never bothered her in her room: it was always cleaned during the day, when Videl was at school.

So Videl had half-opened the door, showing her head and part of her torso, and already asked "What is it dad?" before she realized she wasn't standing in front of her father.

Standing on the other side of her door, stood Gohan. But this was the Gohan she always met on the streets: he as wearing his white jacket, the sleeves still rolled up to show his lower arms, and the black shirt. He had a strange look on his face, but Videl could hardly register it.

'_Wha? Wh-why's he here?' her thoughts raged. 'And why now? I'm SO not dressed for this._'

"Hey Videl, do you mind if I come in?" The young man suddenly asked. There was something strange in his voice, as if he was under some heavy strain. The tone of his voice, combined with the shock of suddenly finding him standing there, made Videl open her door and step back a step before she had even realized it.

"Sure, just gimme one second and I'll be ready." She said as she turned around and reached for her slacks. She heard the door creak open, a heavy foot being placed on the floor behind her and the door being closed all of a sudden.

It wasn't until she had the feeling that there was someone standing right behind her, that Videl suddenly felt very uneasy. Before Videl had time to stand up and turn around, there were two big, strong hands that grabbed her arms very roughly. The iron-like grip was crushing into Videl's arms, preventing her from moving, but before she could even struggle against the grip, she was roughly pulled into a solid and big chest. The impact on Videl's head, now that her entire body had tensed up, was similar to hitting her head against a brick wall.

"Don't bother." Gohan's voice whispered in her ear, but it was unlike normal. Now, instead of soothing Videl, her voice send cold shivers down her back as she was forcibly maneuvered towards her bed.

"Up you go." Without any sort of explanation, Videl was suddenly thrown forward, landing on her bed and catching herself with her released and already bruised arms. But before she had a chance to get up or even kick at her sudden attacker, Gohan grabbed Videl's shoulder and turned her around before pinning her down by jumping on top of her. Each of Videl's small limbs was now being held down by one of Gohan's as they looked each other in the eye.

There was a strange look on Gohan's face, a look of pure ecstasy as he looked Videl over. Suddenly, Gohan's right arm released Videl's arm and instead moved up into a much more inappropriate area: straight under her shirt. Gasping at the sudden touch, Gohan immediately lunged and captured Videl in a rough and painful kiss.

Gohan released Videl after nearly half a minute, leaving the defenseless girl shocked and painful: the Son boy had been so rough that he had left Videl's entire mouth numb, she hardly had any air left and she was left with a sense of dread and fear that she was quite sure should not happen when you're kissed by a boy for the first time in your life.

Still staring down at her, thoroughly enjoying everything that was going on, Gohan spoke up again, but his next words caused Videl to nearly break down then and there.

"And now, it's time for some fun."

XxX

At a quarter to nine in the morning, Son Gohan was flying towards Satan City as he always did. Not even caring to look where he was going, Gohan was scanning some of his notes on history as he flew at supersonic speeds. He had neglected to go over his notes last night, so he had to read them now while traveling. Not that he particularly minded, his energy shield kept the winds, shockwaves, bird droppings and what not away, allowing Gohan to read as easily as if he was sitting in the train.

As Gohan sensed an increase in the humans in his area, he realized that he was nearing the city, so he put his notes back in his backpack and carefully maneuvered himself to his usual alleyway, five minutes walk away from the school. He had discovered this particular alleyway about two months back: it was far closer to the school then his old one – which was a ten minute walk – and just as well-hidden.

Gohan landed between a couple of old buildings in a dirty, used alleyway that no-one ever looked at or walked through. It was the perfect spot for disappearing when he wanted too and no-one would look twice if he walked in or out of the alley.

So, walking at a leisure pace, Gohan easily strolled up to the school gates, stopping on the corner to buy a coffee to make sure he was awake for history class and walked up to the front gate. As he walked, however, Gohan noticed a couple of things.

Gohan had the strange feeling that almost everyone was looking at the half-saiyan, which seriously unnerved him. '_Did someone play some stupid prank or something? Or did they announce the current line-up of all-time high scores and am I somewhere in the top?_' he thought, trying to think of a reason why everyone was looking at him.

The second thing Gohan noticed was that none of the people who were staring at him were looking even remotely nice or envious. In fact, most of the guys were openly glaring at the confused Son boy, while most of the girls backed away from him to hide behind friends or to simply place as much distance between them as they could. Almost all the girls had a very scared look as they stared at him, almost like they were terrified that he was going to literally bite their heads off if he got close to them.

Feeling more and more intimidated by the glaring and cowering crowd, Gohan tried to step into the school quickly, hoping to get away from the angry student body.

Just before he entered the door however, he saw the tell-tale long, bushy red hair of Angela and out of reflex Gohan looked over in her direction, seeing if she had already recovered or not.

The moment he made eye-contact with Angela, the girl seemed to break down immediately and, sobbing, crashed to her knees. Without even needing to look around, Gohan could feel that he had stepped over some forbidden line as he felt most of the male students all closing in on him. Not waiting to see what they want, Gohan immediately stepped into the school and rushed towards his locker.

It was, if possible, even worse inside the school then outside. Every eye was still upon him, but in the closed corridors Gohan felt like there were far more people looking. But everywhere he went, people parted for him as if he was carrying a disease that they would catch if they got anywhere within two meters of him.

'_What on earth is going on? They're all looking at me as if I murdered someone… Wait, did someone reveal the truth about what happened at the Cell Games? No, then they wouldn't be this pissed… What's going on?_'

Still confused, Gohan saw the tell-tale long blond hair of Sharpener and, right next to him, the shaking figure of Erasa. They had their backs turned to Gohan, so they didn't see him approaching, but for some reason even seeing his best friend didn't calm Gohan down. If anything, it made him feel even more nervous and, dare he admit it, scared.

Just as he reached the two, Gohan's voice finally regained it's capability to produce words.

"Hey guys, do you know what's going on?" he asked, his voice unexpectedly shaken, "Everyone see-" but he broke off his sentence mid-way as the two blonds turned around and looked at him.

Gohan was no expert at seeing the emotions of others but even he couldn't miss the wide array of emotions that his two friends were showing. Shock, anger, fear, surprise, horror, disbelief, resentment and probably a dozen other emotions that Gohan couldn't place flashed over their faces as they looked at the half-saiyan.

Within the same second that Gohan had closed his mouth and witnessed all the emotions that flashed across their faces, Erasa suddenly burst into tears much like Angela had done and buried her face in Sharpener's shirt. At once, the muscular teen wrapped his arm around Erasa protectively, supporting her, as he glared at Gohan once again.

"What's going on?" The half-breed asked again, but Sharpener didn't answer. Instead, Gohan's best friend spoke in the coldest and most hateful tone that he had ever uttered.

"Get the fuck away from us before I can't stop myself from killing you, you sick son of a bitch!"

Despite knowing that no-one at the school, heck no-one in that city, could even come close to harming Gohan, the demi-saiyan got scared at the tone of Sharpener's voice. Without even thinking, Gohan allowed his primal instincts to take control over him as he stumbled back and, ungracefully, fell on his behind. Feeling each of Sharpener's words and every glare as heavily as if it was a physical hit, Gohan had difficulty getting up for a few seconds as he scrambled on the floor.

Finally managing to push himself back up, Gohan turned around and fled from his locker, running away from his two more-then-angry friends. Before he had even moved more then ten meters however, Gohan was forced to stop again.

Videl was standing before him and the look in her eyes was by far worse then anyone else's, even Sharpeners. Defeat, pain, anger, hatred and humiliation were all radiating off her, but the tears that were also threatening to spill over from her eyes were the worst of it all.

"Videl, what's going on? Eve-"

-SLAP-

The sudden slap to Gohan's face, completely unexpected, forced his head to the side, though more out of shock then actual pain.

Dumbstruck and still feeling a sting in his cheek, Gohan slowly turned his head back to face Videl, who was now looking more furious then ever.

"HOW DARE YOU!?" she shouted at the top of her voice as she lunged at him again. "HOW DARE YOU COME UP HERE AND ASK ME WHAT'S GOING ON!? HOW DARE YOU STILL SHOW YOUR FACE AROUND ME AFTER WHAT YOU DID!?"

"What?" Gohan said, not believing what he heard, not even trying to stop the hits that Videl was now delivering onto every part of his body.

Hearing Gohan speak apparently already caused great pain for Videl, because she stopped her punching, kicking and scratching at every inch of him, instead backing down and looking more hurt then ever.

"Now what? You want me to say it out loud, you sick bastard? You know full well what you did last night… and you did it to someone else every other night. I heard everything that you did this morning and I assure you that you will pay for it!"

Now Gohan was even more confused, but still he couldn't come up with a sensible response.

"But..." he started, "what'd you… what happened?"

"YOU RAPED ME YOU ASSHOLE!" Videl suddenly shouted.

Suddenly, it was as if someone had dropped a bomb on Orange Star High: All the other students started shouting at him, a hundred or more different voices all cursing and yelling insults at him, many of them yelling death threats to the young warrior. Many girls, mostly from Gohan's own class, shouted that he had used them as well.

But none of the words they were shouting at him even registered. There was only one thought running through his shocked mind, a terrifying message that suddenly made him understand the glares.

'_Videl thinks I raped her…_'

There was no other thought then that in his mind, there was only that one line that made no sense whatsoever. Gohan had never hurt Videl and he never would hurt her either. How could they ever believe anything different?

Gohan was, typically, pulled out of his sudden trance by the one sound that always managed to draw his attention: the bell ringing to indicate the start of classes. As he was shocked back into a semi-awake state, Gohan saw the looks of pure loathing that were now apparent on the faces of all the students.

'_I have to get out of here_'

Without even acting consciously; his mind still in shock over the sudden and impossible news, Gohan started to move his way though the halls again, moving back the way he had originally came. Just as before, people were making a wide circle around him to avoid him, but now they were all yelling, cursing at him, some even throwing books or drinks at him, while others were spitting at him.

Gohan didn't even notice what they were doing; he didn't even know how he was walking. At one point, he had left the school and continued walking, but no-one seemed to follow him outside of the school grounds.

Before Gohan had even realized it, he was sitting on lowest of the stone steps in the centre of Satan City Park, almost twenty minutes walking away from the school, and he was still in shock as he looked at the fountain. He didn't notice the young girl who had walked by and pointed Gohan out to her mother, nor the old man who had given him one look before walking away with a look of disgust on his face.

But there was, just like it had been at school, one sound that suddenly pulled Gohan out of his trance. A voice suddenly spoke up from behind the teen.

"Well, don't you look like you just got slapped by the love of your life?"

The voice was oddly familiar, but at the same time it sounded very strange. Gohan looked around in surprise, but he didn't see anyone standing around him. Then, he suddenly felt a shadow looming over him, compelling the confused teen to look up the stairs. He immediately found the source of the strange voice and, at the same time, knew why it sounded so familiar.

There, standing at the top of the twenty or so steps, stood another black-haired teenager. He was wearing black suede shoes, white pants that looked like they were made of silk or something similar, a black, low-cut t-shirt that showed a bit of his sternum and clavicle and over them; a white jacket, made of the same material as the pants.

His hands were placed in his pockets, giving him an appearance of calm control and high arrogance. Because the sleeves of his jacket were rolled up a bit, Gohan could see that this man's arms were just as scarred as his were. It was a perfect mirror image of Gohan's own arm. But the same could also be said about his face: the stranger dressed in black-and-white had the exact same face as Gohan himself.

That was why the voice sounded so familiar: it was Gohan's own voice that he had heard and, just like when listening to a recording, it sounded very strange to hear his own voice while not uttering any words.

"Hey," the lookalike said; a smirk on his face as he burst into arrogant laughter. "Pleasure to meet you; I am the evil twin brother you never knew you had."

* * *

Second chapter done and the darkness now sets in. this chapter also shows the first of many reasons why this fic is rated as M.

Much thanks to my beta Kushin-eX for betaing this chapter for me and discussing many of my ideas with me.

Glad to see that the first chapter was so well-liked, and this one really gets the story going.

As response to the reviews:

Sorry Demonkid, but rapes won't just be insinuated, they're a crucial part of the plot. But I won't turn this into a lemon or anything of the sort, there will be no detailed descriptions of any sexual scenes, willing or not.

And for Anime-Starwars-fan-zach: this story assumes that the Buu arcs never took place, so Goku is still dead.

As always please review and tell me what you think.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: don't own DBZ or anything related. I just thought of an idea that I like and use that for my own entertainment and hopefully some other people as well.

* * *

Gohan was far to surprised by the sudden statement of his 'twin' to react, causing the lookalike to burst into even more laughter. Checking over the man standing in front of him again, Gohan suddenly noticed something and, regaining his composure, spoke up.

"You're no twin brother of mine."

"And what makes you say that?" the man replied.

"Because if you were my twin, you would only look just like me, you wouldn't share all my scars. You have the exact same scars on your arms as I do."

"And what makes you say I haven't just been in other fights, ones that you simply didn't know about?" even now, the man was still laughing, obviously mocking Gohan. Already, the half-saiyan felt highly irritated by this man.

"You're a part of Omicron-8 aren't you?"

As soon as the name 'Omicron-8' was uttered, the other man fell completely silent, staring at Gohan. His eyes, a perfect mirror of Gohan's, were narrowed and seemed much darker then Gohan's eyes had ever been. And then, after a second, the man spoke up again. But his voice was now laced with a deep loathing.

"Yeah, that's right. I knew you'd figure it out pretty soon." Suddenly the arrogant grin was back as he continued. "But then, we always were the smart ones, weren't we, _Father_?"

"I'm no father of yours, you're perfectly identical to me and you know it!" Gohan replied, his resentment sparking. "You're no son, you're a clone!"

"Don't you mark me as a product!" the clone suddenly barked, clearly losing his cool as much as the original Gohan. "You created me, you where the one who provided the DNA that created me and _you_ were the one who created the enhancements that I now have. I am just like you, but completely opposite. You are Gohan, so I… I am Nahog!"

"Nahog…"

"I am everything you ever dreamed of being, I am more then you could ever hope to be! I am you, but I am so much more… But there is one thing that I will follow you in: I, too, will be the cause of my father's death!"

"My father is already dead! You can't touch him from here, clone."

"MY NAME IS NAHOG!" the cloned half-saiyan yelled out, drawing some attention from others in the park. "And who said I wanted to kill _your_ father? _You_ are the one who created _me_ so I'll destroy _you_. It's a good redemption for what you did to my brothers and sisters. And who better fitted for the task then me, your very own clone. You, yourself, created me and gave me the means to perform my task properly."

"You…" Gohan started, before something suddenly dawned on him. The reason for Videl's surreal statement that he had raped her, the reason everyone was glaring at him at school… "You're the one that harmed Videl, aren't you?"

"Aah, I thought you might mention that." Nahog said with a dark smile. "Yeah, you're right. I'm the one who turned Videl into a woman. And I can tell you, she wasn't even that great. Most of the others in your class were far better then her. Hell, Erasa was practically begging for it when I was still playing around with her. And I can assure you, she's much better then Videl could ever hope to be."

"What!? You… you bastard!"

"Now, now, there's no reason to get all riled up like that, or are you jealous of me now Gohan? Jealous that I have done that which you have only dreamed of doing, jealous that I have done the one act you could only dream of with every woman you have ever desired! Jealous that I did what you did not dare, that I am the one you seduced Videl, the woman whom you long for more then any other!"

Gohan didn't reply, instead clenching his fist and crouching down. The grass around him started waving as he increased his energy level, preparing to transform into a Super Saiyan.

"I wouldn't do that if I where you." Nahog advised as he looked down on Gohan. "I am you, I have your power, your speed, your experiences, your memories, your techniques, your strategies, your tactics, your preferences, your intelligence and I have so much more then you ever did. I don't have your cowardice, I don't have your hesitations; I don't have your wimpyness. I am everything you ever dreamed of being, but couldn't. And I will destroy you! You can't hope to defeat me the way you are: we're equals in the battlefield. We both know there's no quick way to defeat each other, it would have to be an all-out battle. And a fight like that could very well ruin this entire city that you so care for. But if you still want to fight, bring it on. I'll be more then happy to reduce this city to ashes with you."

Realizing that his clone was right, Gohan stopped raising his power level and stood up, glaring at Nahog with a dark hatred he never before had.

"What do you want Nahog?" Gohan almost yelled, his eyes never leaving Nahog's. "You say you want to destroy me? Fine, name a time and place where we'll fight and I'll grind you into the dust. Say where we will fight and I will make you regret ever even thinking of Videl. Name your place!"

By the dark, almost evil, smile that showed up on Nahog's face – and it looked very strange to Gohan to see his own usually gentle face smiling so evilly – Gohan knew he was playing right into Nahog's hands.

"But Gohan… You knew there are more ways then one to destroy a person, don't you. Simply killing you won't do, it won't do at all. If I did that, then the others would simply use the Dragon balls to revive you and get revenge. No, what I have in mind is something far more permanent and lasting then you think. I will destroy you, piece by painful piece, for all the harm you've done. I will make you pay; I will make you bleed in ways that you never before realized you could bleed. And then, when you are on the verge of destruction unlike any you have ever seen, I will kill you at long last."

As soon as Nahog was done speaking, he phased out, flying off at maximum speed. Gohan was still too stunned by the revelation to give chase. Just then, as he stood there, something dawned on Gohan. He suddenly realized something very dangerous about Nahog, aside from the fact that they where completely similar…

He had no energy signal that could be traced.

XxX

Having taken the morning off, Bulma was still in her bathrobe, enjoying a nice hot cup of coffee, while Vegeta was already training and Trunks was sleeping in, because he'd been given a day off from school. She sat down, turned on the TV and switched it from the cartoon channel that Trunks enjoyed watching to her favorite soap.

Halfway through the episode, just as her two favorite characters where on the point of admitting that they where in love with each other, Gohan burst into the living room, straight through the multi-layer, bulletproof glass and was looking hectic.

"Gohan, what's go-" she started, but for once the Son boy didn't uphold his manners.

"Bulma, we've got a major problem, we'll need to alert everyone and get them over here. We'll have to tell them everything. Oh man, we have got such a MAJOR problem! I'm going to go get mom and Goten and Piccolo, can you gather the others? And stay near Vegeta at all costs!"

"Wait, what's go-" but he had already flew straight in the air and shooting off towards his home. "-ing on… ok, if he's that panicked, it can't be good…"

Her hand was halfway to the intercom to warn Vegeta, when the soap was suddenly interrupted and a emergency police message was broadcast. In the background, a 3D image of Gohan was rotating in the screen, leaving no doubts to who the broadcast was about.

"Ladies and Gentleman, we are sorry to introduce the running show to give you all a urgent message. As of two weeks ago Satan City, home of the heroes Hercule and Videl, has been experiencing a crime streak the like of which has never been known before. The world-city, generally a low-crime city, has been suffering from the presence of a feared mass-rapist, who has now successfully been identified as one Gohan Son."

As soon as the name was heard from the very large, supremely-high quality boxes, Bulma froze in place, her hand still on the button to the intercom. As he eyes where suddenly swung towards the TV, she heard Trunks calling from his room upstairs.

"MOOOOM…. GOHAN'S ON TV AND THEY SAY HE'S A BAD GUY!"

XxX

A mere two minutes after Gohan had left he was almost at the Lookout. Sensing his arrival, Piccolo was already standing at the edge of the Lookout, Dende and Mister Popo gathering behind him.

Unlike normal, when Gohan would take a few minutes to enter polite conversation – as his mom had drilled into his head since he was a child – Gohan didn't even touch down on the sacred white stones.

"Meet me at Bulma's house in ten minutes, all three of you. We've got a major problem."

Without waiting for an answer, the half-saiyan shot off again and made a beeline for his home. For once, Gohan wasn't paying attention to being careful and he caused a large wave in the ocean, nearly knocking over several fishing boats.

No four minutes after he had left the Capsule Corporation, Gohan had reached the forests around his home. He immediately sensed his brother's power level and found that he was helping their mother washing some clothes just behind their home.

Although his mother had often forbidden the Z fighters from flying too close to the house, because they tended to cause a sonic boom when they did, Gohan completely ignored her rule and landed right next to the remains of his family. Even his grandfather was there.

"Gohan, what are you doing!" Chichi yelled when the dust had settled and she saw the small crater that her eldest son had made upon impact. "You know you're not allowed to fly or land this close to the house, have you lost your mind!"

"Mom, Goten, Grandpa, we need to go. Now!" Gohan replied, not even answering his mother's tirade. Obviously, his voice convinced all of them that the situation was serious, because Goten stopped hopping, Chichi didn't question Gohan and the Ox King simply looked at his eldest grandson with shock.

Deciding that he couldn't wait for them to gather their wits again, due to Nahog's existence, the eldest half-saiyan alive stepped forward and lifted his mother onto one shoulder. He held her down, despite the sudden protests that the former warrior was making, and then held out a hand for both Goten and the Ox King. Almost as once, Goten jumped up and placed himself in his brother's neck, while the Ox King grabbed Gohan around the arm, just before they lifted off into the sky.

XxX

A grant total of fifteen minutes after Gohan had first burst into Bulma's room, he re-entered through the balcony, still carrying his mother over his shoulder, and the teenager was greeted by the faces of the other Z-fighters. Bulma had contacted them all; she'd even managed to get Tien and Chiaotzu to show up.

Looking around at the faces of his old friends, Gohan managed to calm himself down a bit, placed his mother back on the ground. He didn't even notice the death glare she was giving him, but instead stood tall again and addressed the group.

"Guys, we have a problem, a big problem." He started.

"Does this have anything to do with you being broadcast world-wide as the new number 1 most wanted?" #18 sarcastically interrupted him, drawing the attention to her. "I was watching the news just now, when they had accused you of being one of the most wanted criminals in recent history. Wouldn't be related, would it?"

This information, presented in #18's typical blunt and sarcastic manner, shocked almost everyone else to full awareness. Chichi looked immediately outraged, ready to attack the blond android for saying something like that about her son.

Quickly recovering from the shock, Gohan forced his face back into a neutral expression and spoke up.

"Yeah, they're related." He said, much to the surprise of his mother. "Like I said before, we have a problem: there's a new enemy around and he's unlike any other we've ever faced."

"Explain brat. What enemy are you talking about; I didn't sense any energy signal that could threaten us." Vegeta interfered, now standing tall instead of leaning against the wall.

"Yeah, you wouldn't sense him at all. His energy is completely masked, similar to #18's, so we can't sense him." Gohan explained. "But let me begin at the beginning…"

Just as Gohan drew a deep breath to begin a long and much needed explanation, he was interrupted by a loud burst of sound, complete with an increase of light and the debris of an exploding building right next to the Capsule Corporation.

Someone had thrown an energy bomb at the building and Gohan, for one, didn't even need to guess who it was.

XxX

"Turn it off, we know enough." Nahog commanded as he stood from the comfortable chair he had been sitting in while waiting for the emergency news report.

"Sure thing," The man with the remote said and, pressing the button, the television instantly darkened. "So, what're we going to do now boss?" he asked.

"Now, we go on with the second step of my plan. I've landed the first hits and made sure they count. My counterpart is no doubt gathering his friends as I speak. First, we hit Gohan. With him distracted and hurt, we can then shift our attention to Videl and her father."

"That's good to hear." A man said as he also took a step forward. "We'll be the first to acknowledge that you're brilliant, Nahog, and like we promised we'll give you full support in your vendetta against your twin brother, but I would hate for you to lose sight of our goal: the elimination of Videl and Hercule Satan."

"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten." Nahog assured the man, a direct assistant of the leader of the biggest organized crime group in Satan City. "Tell Mr. **Malfattore that ****I've already**** ensured that Videl won't be doing anything for the next couple days and when I'm done, she'll be in a living hell. Assuming she doesn't kill herself first."**

**"I'll be sure to do that. And what of her father?" the aid asked. **

**"He'll be too concerned with his daughter for the time being and I'll properly attend to him later. Right now, it's time for my goals." Nahog replied, walking out onto the balcony. **

**"You've got the preparations I requested complete?"**

**"Of course; ****although it is**** something that has never before happened, all the syndicates that we are in contact with stand ready. They will act as soon as you give the signal. It will be an act the likes of which have never been seen…" the aid answered, before quickly adding. "Good luck." **

But Nahog had already flown away from the private mansion, his course set on West City.

Some twenty minutes later, Nahog's plan was proven to be correct. After a mere two minutes flight, he had arrived at Capsule Corporation and, after finishing his own preparations, left the building just before he saw Piccolo arrive and enter the living area. Five minutes afterwards, all the other Z-fighters had also gathered. With a smirk, Nahog launched himself from the streets where he was standing and quickly maneuvered himself towards the top of the building.

"It would be so easy to kill almost all of them right now…" he mused as he gathered his energy. Thanks to his bio-genetical enhancements, he didn't have to worry about being detected by energy even if he would transform into a Super Saiyan. But the light from the transformation might give him away, so he stopped just on the brink of the transformation.

"But that would be too easy. I still want to see Gohan to the depths of Hell… and for that I'll have to do THIS!"

Thrusting his hands forward, Nahog released a dozen energy balls from each of his hands, thrown wildly to all sides of the dome-shaped building he was standing on. As soon as the balls made contact with anything other then air, they exploded violently, stronger then any explosive device that humans had ever created. At once, several buildings were destroyed, the people inside killed before they even realized what was going on.

"LET'S GET THIS SHOW STARTED!"

He yelled his challenge at the same time as Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, Piccolo, Chiaotzu, Vegeta, Gohan and #18 came rushing out of the building. Now that they where sure to have seen him, Nahog released his energy and instantly his hair turned gold, his eyes green and electricity sparked around his body.

Within a second, Nahog was right next to Gohan, the identical duo staring at each other for a split second before Nahog kneed the original half-saiyan in the stomach and quickly followed it up with a hammer-strike to Gohan's back, as the victim doubled over because of the unexpected strike. Unlike his clone, Gohan did not have time to transform into a Super Saiyan, let alone the ascended state.

Too surprised by Nahog's appearance and how he had easily removed Gohan from the fight, the other fighters where all too surprised to act before Nahog continued. Vegeta was the next target, receiving a head but to stun him for a second, and the Halfling then proceeded to pummel the last pure blooded Saiyan before release a blast of energy in the Prince's stomach.

As Vegeta, also still in his natural state, was sent crashing to the earth below, Piccolo was the first to overcome his surprise and attempt to attack the clone, but Nahog easily caught the Namek's arm and kicked him in the stomach. Phasing out, the Super Saiyan punched Krillin right between the eyes, turned around and kicked the black-haired human in the back, crashing him right into his wife.

Yamcha was next, blasted with an instant blast in the scarred man's back, and then Nahog engaged Tien in a small exchange. Tien, for his part, had recovered better then most other fighters and actually put up a small fight, but he was absolutely no match for Nahog and within seconds was send crashing to the ground, his left arm held at a strange angle.

Now only Chiaotzu was left and the small emperor was already shaking with fear at seeing how easily all his friends were defeated. But unlike with the other Z fighters, Nahog didn't attack, instead pulling back and crossing his hands in front of his hands.

"Ma-"

He started, a ball of energy formed in between his hands. From their position underneath the rubble, Gohan and Vegeta recognized what Nahog was planning. At once, they transformed into their Super Saiyan state, bursting them free from the debris, and rushed towards the Capsule Corporation.

"-sen-"

The other fighters had all pulled themselves up also, Tien still holding his arm with a pained look, and fired energy beams of their own.

"-ko!"

The large yellow-orange beam of energy, Gohan's trademark attack, rushed forward from Nahog's hands. The couple of beams sent forth by the Humans and the single Namek made contact but hardly slowed down from it.

At the same time as Gohan and Vegeta exited the Capsule Corporation's main building, now holding their families and friends in their hands, Nahog's beam made contact with the top of the yellow building. At once, the building exploded outward, a large dome of light erupting from the building, closing around the two families as well as the two city blocks that lay around it.

While the others where still caught in the wide-spread blast Nahog powered down and laughed wildly, spraying down more blast of energy around the metropolis West City. After he had ruined almost a quarter of the city, laughing all the while, Nahog turned around and fled the area, a second before the other Z fighters escaped from the explosion.

As soon as the explosion had subsided a bit, Gohan shot up into the sky to check for Nahog's presence, while the other Z fighters all landed near the families that Gohan and Vegeta had saved. For a few seconds it was silent, while Gohan looked around the empty sky until suddenly Bulma cried out.

"WHERE'S TRUNKS!" she suddenly shouted. Looking down at the ground, Gohan noticed that Trunks was indeed gone. Quickly landing, he looked around and saw that Goten had also disappeared. Chichi was also noticing the absence of her youngest son, and she was frantically looking around.

Gohan quickly broadened his senses, worried that Nahog could have kidnapped the two boys, but their energy signal was coming from the ruins of Capsule Corporation.

"What the…" Gohan mumbled, sure that he and Vegeta had carried the two boys out. Glancing around the clearing once again, Gohan noticed everyone that had been saved: all the Z fighters, Chichi, the Ox King, Bulma, Mr. Briefs, Mrs. Briefs, Marron, Master Roshi, Dende, Mister Popo and all the animal companions that belonged to the group.

Suddenly, there where two bursts from the ruins of the Capsule Corporation's ruins and the two boys ran out, each encased in a golden glow as their hair stood on ends. They were quickly running from the Brief's family's former home, each holding something in their hands.

"TRUNKS!"

"GOTEN!"

The two mothers shouted at the same time as they hugged their still-glowing sons tightly.

"Why did you do that?" Bulma nearly cried. "I was so worried about you!" Chichi added.

"But mom, I had to save Blackie!" Trunks explained, holding out the small black cat that was always on the shoulder of his grandfather. "Here Grandpa, she was still sleeping when we found her, but I got her out."

"And I brought out Mr. Frogster." Goten added, holding out a panicked-looking alien frog, which was wildly making motions that no normal frog would make.

XxX

"OK, so let's hear it brat. What's going on!" Vegeta demanded as soon as everyone had been gathered in Yamcha's living room. They had chosen Yamcha's house as their temporary base, because it was closest to the Capsule Corporation. Currently, Master Roshi was busy bandaging Tien's arm, after having placed it back in its proper location.

Yamcha had turned off the TV a minute ago, after an emergency newsflash had already been broadcasted, announcing Gohan as a dangerous terrorist as well as the other crimes that Nahog had committed. Even without a proper count, the death toll was already estimated to be in the hundreds, no thanks to several filled apartment buildings that Nahog had destroyed.

"And make no mistake you two!" he added with venom to Trunks and Goten. "When the eldest Spawn of Kakarot has explained why he has an identical twin running around destroying our home, you two will explain just how you are Super Saiyans!"

"But-" the two boys started.

"He's not my brother!" Gohan suddenly stated with venom. The tone so strange coming from the usually quite and reserved half-saiyan.

"Then what is he, and how is it that he looks so like you?" Vegeta questioned; the first one to recover.

"Sit down, all of you. I'll explain who he is and why we have such a huge problem."

A furious look from Bulma silenced Vegeta's protest to taking orders from Gohan and, after a tense minute, Gohan started talking.

"That guy who just caught us off-guard, is named Nahog. He's my clone." Gohan announced, to surprise of most of his audience. "He's the result of an experiment that Bulma and I did almost a year ago now, involving cloning and bio-engineering. Because of that, he's completely identical in physical appearance and development as me. That means that he has all of my techniques, all of my memories and all of my strengths and weaknesses. But there's one major flaw in the cloning: the clones don't copy the personalities of the original. That's why we stopped the experiment."

"If you say Bio-engineering, what are we talking about?" Krillin carefully asked.

"After we completed the process of cloning, we continued on with enhancing each of the clones. Among other things, we've created clones that could freely alter the structure of their bodies, or become invisible. Others we gave a surge of energy that was not part of the original's body. We did a combination of experiments to enhance each of the clones."

"And what about this one? Your clone. This Nahog." Tien asked. "What's his enhancement?"

"We gave him a special type of light extra-cellular fluid around each of his cells that prevent any sort of detection. That means he gives of next to no heat, is not detectable on any sort of computerized detection machines and he gives of no energy that we can sense."

"So in a way, he's like me." #18 summarized, holding Marron on one hip as she spoke. "He can't be detected same as me."

"Yeah, but unlike you he's otherwise a completely biological being, so unlike you he can run out of energy." Gohan replied.

It was Vegeta who finally made a conclusion that silenced everyone else.

"So, basically, you two have gone and created a new Cell."

* * *

And that's the third chapter completed, the introduction in this story is now complete. As always thanks to my beta's Kushin eX for reading this chapter and correcting any mistakes I've made.

And to everyone: please review to tell me what you think of the story so far,


	4. Chapter 4

Don't own the DB/DBZ/DBGT universe or any of it's character, just using them for some fun.

XXXxxxXXXxxx

"Wow, how on earth did you keep this place in such a good condition in all these years Oolong?" Bulma asked in surprise as she looked around. "It's been well over twenty five years since we met you here and it still looks in tip-top shape. Wait a second; has it really been that long already?"

After their rather violent removal from Capsule Corporation, and Gohan's rather brief explanation on exactly who Nahog was, they had made a quick debate on where to go now. While Yamcha's house was rather large for a man living on his own, it was in no way enough to allow their large group to stay, not to mention that there was not enough good around to feed the four Saiyans in their rank.

Under any other circumstance, the Capsule Corporation would, of course, have been their perfect base. But now that it was completely destroyed they needed a new base of operations, one that could house them and if possible hide them as well. Their natural second choice, the Kame House, was also inadequate. Not only was it a well-known location to their enemy, but it was a single house that was meant to have only a few inhabitants. This same reasoning ruled out the Son House, which would most likely be met by a very thorough search from the police and more then a few angry masses, and Tien's training residence as well, leaving only a handful of options. Unfortunately both the palace of the Ox King and Chiaotzu were well-known places to Gohan and therefore a liability. And Dende's Lookout was also voted off. It was capable of housing them all easily and could serve as a battleground, but it was well over thirty miles above the rest of the earth and hundreds of miles removed from any form of civilization. Should Nahog attack any part of the world not located directly underneath the tower, he could have already destroyed it completely before the Z-fighters got there.

Not to mention that the Lookout lacked any form of TV or radio, which where now their only means of getting information about where exactly Nahog was.

So, after over half an hour of randomly naming places, Bulma even suggesting she simply rent a mansion somewhere, Oolong suddenly stood up, transformed into a spitting image of Shenron to get their attention and spoke up.

"**You guys, we can all stay over at my old place. Remember it, Bulma? It's big enough to easily house all of us, with a little moderation Bulma can create a new lab there if she wants and it's located between East City, North City and Satan City. Plus, it's got cable, internet, radio and phone. We'll have everything we need."**

So, after going over Oolong's suggestion and realizing that none of the –still living - Son's had ever been there before they had agreed to move into Oolong's house and make it their temporary base of action.

"Well of course it's still in good condition, I do still live here you know." The pig in question said with annoyance. "And even when I'm not around, I do rent out some of the rooms to keep a steady income. It's a pretty profitable business, this."

"So, now that we know exactly who we're facing, I've got something else I'm wondering about." Krillin suddenly said as he set the –still filled- kitchen cupboard down with one hand.

"Yeah, what is it?" Gohan asked, holding both sofas in one hand stacked atop each other, and the filled fridge in the other.

"How exactly does that cloning thing work? I mean, is it like in the movies? Take a bit of skin or something, toss a salve over it and you have an instant clone or what? But what I'm most curious about are those enhancements you mentioned. How on earth can you do that without seriously messing up someone's DNA?"

This question got the former monk a couple of strange looks, although Bulma looked rather excited at getting a chance to explain her work to her friends. Usually, it was all too difficult for them to follow so she didn't even try it.

"Ehm; Just let me put this down and I'll try to explain." Gohan said, dropping the two sofa's before gently taking the fridge to the kitchen.

So some odd five minutes later, all the Z-fighters, even Trunks and Goten, sat on the sofas or the ground – with Vegeta, Tien and Piccolo leaning against the wall behind the sofas- intent on listening to Bulma and Gohan explaining the process of cloning.

"Well, actually Krillin's explanation of cloning in the movies is half accurate." Gohan started. "A clone is basically an identical copy of a person, created by using a strand of DNA. That strand can be obtained from anywhere on the body: skin, nails, hair or blood, it all works. But blood works easiest because it's not touched by anything outside the body, making it a much cleaner then other substances that can easily be missed."

"What he means is that your skin, hair and nails get touched by other people and so they get a bit dirty, making it harder to use them. Just like how your ice-cream doesn't taste as good when someone else has taken a lick. " Bulma quickly simplified seeing the look on the face of Goten, Trunks and Marron. Suddenly looking much easier, as if they now understood it better, the three nodded their heads in unison.

"Well, once we knew where to find the DNA, the really tough part started," Gohan continued, "Multiplying DNA is no problem, but there's a good chance you'll just end up with a large combination of that particular DNA, which would for example result in more blood, or a newly formed nail, or even an entire new organ. While that little discovery was the source of our research after the cloning, it wasn't too much use during that experiment. So, we had to artificially create an area where DNA could develop into a fully matured human body."

"And to do that, we had to go back to basics." Bulma added with excitement. "We made several attempts at creating a full adult body directly, but each attempt failed miserably. So, instead we recreated natural birth. But we obviously couldn't wait for years, so we accelerated the natural growth until the clone reached the same age as the test subject. For all that we had a special machine we dubbed a 'Cloning Tube' – and don't get started on how original the name is – that served all those purposes. We placed a piece of DNA in it – after we had added some chemicals to control it's growth rate, as well as allow us to monitor it properly – and from there the machine first served as a kind of artificial womb, letting the single piece of DNA grow into a full fetus, and when the fetus was fully grown it still enhanced the growth of the body until it reached the desired age."

"When we first tried this method, there was one thing we were afraid of." Gohan said while Bulma reached for some air. The three kids had already given up looking even slightly interested, instead looking around. Most of the other Z-fighters where still listening intently, although a bit surprised. The only one who looked like they followed it perfectly were Vegeta, Piccolo, Krillin and #18. "Normally the human body develops with each experience, developing the nervous system as well as muscles. With the cloning we didn't give it the time for that natural development, which could mean that we would end up with a full-grown clone who was already dead, because his heart wasn't strong enough to pump the blood through the body, or otherwise that there was no way for him to control his muscles. There were all sorts of things we were wondering about when we created the first clone."

"But it turns out that in the DNA, all the memories of the subject where also kept." Bulma continued, taking over from Gohan again. "We always knew that not all memories where kept in the brain – for example, most reflexes are actually stored at spinal level, not cerebral - but this could lead to prove that every single memory is, in fact recorded onto our very DNA. That would mean that the DNA keeps adapting to the growth and changes a person makes in their every day life, especially while growing up. It's lead-through material for another scientific breakthrough if we could do proper research on it."

"Our point is," Gohan interrupted, seeing the dazed looks on the faces of the others, "that both factual memories and physical development – which is in fact another form of memory – are carried over to the clone, resulting in a clone having perfect control over his body right from day one. And the development of a clone, from the insertion of the DNA until they where fully grown, was about two months time. Faster then any other attempt at cloning ever made."

"Now, about altering the DNA of a clone, that's another story." Bulma said, taking a quick sip of the wine Oolong had poured for her. The pig had already stopped listening a while ago, instead playing proper host to his guests now. "We continued with that as soon as we had mastered the process of cloning, it was just too great an opportunity not to take. Imagine what could be done if we could find a way to infuse people with Energy, like how you can use it. Or if we could make them invisible at will, or allow them free manipulation of their bodies. The possibilities are endless."

"And you'll end up with a mass of monsters that no-one can stop while they tear your little world to smithereens." Vegeta suddenly said, interrupting his wife. "Just like we have now." That remark shocked the others back away, just in time to see Bulma glare at Vegeta, while Gohan looked at the ceiling rather sheepishly.

"Yeah, well we didn't really think of any bad possibilities while we did the experiments. We where just curious what we could do, not how it could be used." Gohan defended himself.

"A fool's standpoint. What good is being able to do something, if you don't even know what you can use it for?" the Saiyan prince responded.

"Anyway," Bulma said, glaring at Vegeta again, "we tried a multitude of experiments again, with different enhancements and placed at different intervals. Eventually, we discovered that the only way for the body to accept the change, was for the change to be written into the very DNA we used for cloning, otherwise the body would reject the change and start a chain of destruction. So, we started experimenting with the various types of alteration we could make."

This again got the attention of the others. They all set back up again, intend on listening.

"Infusions with Energy, alteration of the structure of the skin, increasing flexibility of the bones, we tried a lot of things." Gohan said, now pacing around, "Needless to say, some of them where not so effective, like creating a clone with rock-hard skin. The skin had lost all flexibility, making it impossible for the clone to move. There were others who where a success, like a clone with the ability to bend the light-rays around it, making it completely invisible."

"Of course, our curiosity still wasn't sated from that." Bulma had now sat down, looking at Gohan walking circles around the others. "If we could create an ordinary person with such abilities, would it be possible to create a whole line of super-fighters like yourselves, with enhanced abilities. We knew we could clone humans, so you guys wouldn't be a problem" Bulma loosely waved a hand around at the human fighters in the room. "But what about Saiyans or Nameks? Could the cloning work on them? That was what we where going to find out next…"

"And that's how we got Nahog." Piccolo said, as Bulma left her sentence hanging in the air.

"After all this, there're a couple of questions I would like to have answered, regarding this whole cloning business." Vegeta said, pushing himself off from the wall. "Would it be possible to remove those cloning tubes from your lab? And if so, could sweat, or perhaps…" for a second, Vegeta's eyes searched out his son before continuing. "Reproductive fluids be used to create a clone?"

"Why would you ask that?" Yamcha said in surprise, looking at Vegeta with shock.

"Because I have the idea that the attack on my home was more than just a mere attack to provoke us or terrorize the humans on earth. What if it was a cover-up for someone – say, the brat's clone – to sneak into the Woman's lab, steal the test tubes and use the bodily fluids there to create clones."

At once, all eyes, including Gohan's, turned to Bulma who was suddenly very, VERY red and wished she could sink through the floor. Thankfully, no-one wanted to ask exactly HOW sweat and 'reproductive fluids' would find its way into Bulma's lab while the kids were around.

XxX

What had followed after that HIGHLY embarrassing moment for Bulma was something that was, if possible even worse.

When the kids had been sent off to bed, with Gohan to stand guard because there where some things the teenage Saiyan simply didn't WANT to know about his godmother, Bulma had been somewhat forced to make an explanation. At the end, Chichi loudly yelled "You did WHAT in that lab!? I am never going to let my sons anywhere near that place anymore!", her mother had – to Bulma's great horror – said that she had also done that with her husband when she was still young and, in a show of a bizarre mix of comedy and suspense, Master Roshi and Yamcha tried to high-five Vegeta for his 'accomplishments.' Oolong had, for once, shut his mouth although he was grinning in an unsettling way.

'_Why on earth do I have to tell them about __my sex life__ with my husband..._' Bulma thought with terror, '_It's none of their business._'

But she had been saved from further mockery and humiliation by Puar yelling from the living room that they had to see what was on the TV. Rushing over to the large TV set that Oolong had, they saw what was going on.

A special news report was being sent out after what the announcer said was 'the most efficient and terrorizing action of organized crime in recent history.' Following that statement was a report on the attack of Capsule Corporation, including Nahog's destruction of the neighborhoods around the building, and the sudden, subsequent crime wave.

But before they showed the footage of the crime wave, the reporter mentioned that they where still searching for Bulma and her family. It was only then that the blue-haired genius realized that she had not yet contacted anyone to let them know they were alive. She would have to make some phone calls and arrange for a press conference in the morning to show she was till alive. But now, she wanted to know more about this news.

After a description, mostly from satellite images, and a few amateur camera shots, of the terrorist attack on CC, there was a clear shot of Gohan's face, in his Super Saiyan 2 state. Someone had gotten a clear picture of Nahog during the attack, just as he had wanted.

"Analysts have confirmed this image to be almost identical to the still wanted mass-rapist G. Son. Son, who is wanted in Satan City. Since his last know location, his hair and eyes have changed color, but a computer analyses shows that the face structure of this terrorist is identical to Son's. Should you run into this person, be warned that he is considered extremely dangerous and should under no circumstances be engaged. The police also have firm evidence linking him to the wave of crimes that followed directly after the destruction of Capsule Corporation." The reporter said. "In a manner of hours after the terrorist attack on Capsule Corporation, there where exactly five waves of well-organized bank-robberies world-wide. Though we do not have any footage of the actual robberies, there is something that the police would like us to show."

As soon as the reporter had finished his sentence, the screen switched to show a map of the world.

"What the police have found is, what they believe is conclusive evidence of Son's involvement with these robberies. Please observe, the lights across the map indicate the banks which where robbed simultaneously."

Along with a time description, a series of dots lighted up. Another time, exactly one hour later, and another group lighted up. Then another, again and one more. Each one exactly an hour apart.

"My god…" Bulma said as she looked at the screen.

As the lights flashed again, they where now connected by a line in between them. The reporter was talking again, but no-one in the room listened to him as they saw the lines being formed.

The first wave clearly spelled into a N.

The second wave formed a H.

The third was an A.

The fourth was an O.

And finally, the fifth wave spelled out a G.

Suddenly everyone realized exactly what the reporter was saying: the remarkable pattern of the robberies made it clear to the police that Gohan was the one behind the robberies.

"How could he do that?" Yamcha said in shock, staring at the letters being formed again and forming Gohan's name on the screen.

"It's a message." Gohan said, standing at the back of the group. He had come running in just after Puar's yell, but he still saw the entire report. "He's letting the world think I'm part of a crime organization, but it's a message to me. The only way he could have organized something like that was if he had deep connections with the mafia or something similar. That's what he wants to tell me. 'You may have your army, but I have my own.' And he made sure that we would know it was a message, by placing his own letter at the front, instead of mine."

"So, what does it mean, if he has the mob behind him," Tien asked, "It's not like a mobster could actually harm us or anything."

"No, that's true. All of us are perfectly safe from them." Gohan said. "But it's a way of saying that he's got all the resources he needs. That is most likely how he survived up until now, no ordinary job could provide for a Saiyan's food needs. But, more then anything, it means that Vegeta's theory just got a little more realistic."

"What theory would that be?" Roshi asked with a snigger, looking at Bulma's legs again.

"The theory where he says that Nahog could have stolen some of our cloning tubes. It's not that difficult for Bulma or me to get into her secret lab, since it has DNA and retina scans, along with a voice-code security that doesn't let anyone but me and Bulma in. Of course, Nahog would have no problem getting past that security. And once inside, he could simply remove a couple of cloning tubes, place them in a capsule and get them out. It's what I would have done, if I were facing you guys alone. It's impossible and incredibly stupid for someone to go up against all of us alone. Nahog may be my equal, but he doesn't stand a chance against all of us together. The only way to get a fighting force against us is by having allies himself."

Suddenly, Krillin looked at Gohan and Bulma with shock.

"Hey, you guys still haven't answered Vegeta's question… is it possible to create a clone from sweat or you-know-what?"

The two scientists looked at each other for a second, before turning and answering.

"It's impossible for sperm to create a clone, each sperm only contains half the chromosomes of the complete body, so the clone would be unstable. Sweat is a possibility, but it would have to be fresh sweat, not contaminated with any other materials yet. So the sweat in my lab is nearly impossible to use, it's dirtied by all sorts of chemicals and dusts." Bulma finally said after a second.

"Oh, thank god…" the black-haired man said, sighing in relief. "I just had the terrible idea that maybe Nahog would create a clone of Vegeta. And Vegeta is very high on my list of people I definitely don't want to fight."

XxX

Wearing a white lab coat was something Nahog was familiar with. He had memories of wearing a lab coat since he was barely a teenager. Although technically speaking, this was the first time that he, Nahog, had worn a lab coat he tried to suppress those thoughts.

'_I'm not just a clone, I am a different person then Gohan and I'll prove it. I will not be just another creation that he has made, simply to destroy me after he is done. I will not fall to the same fate as my brothers. Unlike them, I survived and now I am here to taunt and trick him. He has given me the tools for his own destruction. And, just like Gohan has always stood up against his greatest enemies, I will stand up to him and destroy him. All I need is some more time._'

Wearing the lab coat, Nahog was currently scrolling down a very well hidden lab, owned by his employers. Usually this lab, hidden twenty stories underground, was used for research and creation of more drugs, but after his continued success he had been granted this portion of the lab, along with assistants, to do as he pleased.

It was surprising to Nahog that such major drug lords actually had willing and highly competent scientists working for them, but after the shock had worn off, he realized that they would need someone who knew what they where doing after all. And a well-paid, willing scientist worked much better and more reliable then a reluctant, threatened one.

Currently, a team of the scientists were working on studying and applying the data he had obtained for them the previous evening. The data was in a large file, showing all the results of the research, but the instructions for the final procedure where easy. The machine that Nahog had already installed for use was operational, the first of the four tubes filled with a strand of DNA, soon to transform into a fetus and then, into the first of his selected group of clones. This particular strand of DNA had to be cloned now, before any enhancements could have been made, otherwise it would have been useless. But that didn't matter, because the enhancement that Nahog had in mind could be added at a later date as well. It was one of the few that didn't require to be used before the cloning process started.

"Hey pal, I got some bad news for ya." One of the scientists, a young man in his mid twenties said, waving Nahog over.

"What is it?" the warrior/scientist asked, leaning over to see what the man was looking at. He had a plate with what looked like sweat placed underneath his microscope, so Nahog had a pretty good idea.

"You wanted me to check out whether or not we could put this in your tubes and get a result." The man said, moving over so Nahog could look at the computer screen. "Unfortunately, these samples are completely useless to us, there's way too much other stuff in the sweat to get a clean shot at cloning whoever it is you want to duplicate. You want to use these beauties," he gave a small, almost loving pat, on the Tubes, as he spoke, "You'll have to get some other samples to use."

Before answering, Nahog took a look at the screen himself, analyzing the data that it showed. After a couple of second, Nahog reached the same conclusion as the scientist.

"Yeah, you're right. We're going to need fresher samples then these." Without waiting for a reply, Nahog turned around and addressed the three other scientists also in the room at once. "Listen up everyone; the samples we've managed to gather so far are not going to be of any use, just like I feared they would be. That means you can stop trying to analyze them. Instead, I want each of you to start reading the instructions on the enhancement program, make sure you can use it when I get back with a fresh sample of DNA. It shouldn't take me more then a few days."

Hearing the confirmation of the scientists, Nahog turned around and left the lab. He took a quick look at his own computer, where he was already working on a new enhancement. One that would be, in fact, vital to his plans.

XxX

Sitting down, Gohan looked around. His new room was empty and cold, especially compared to his old one. He had none of his bookshelves, nor the books that were usually on them. He didn't even have a closet in the room for his clothes, because they were hanging in a walk-in closet the size of a small room, hidden behind a door. Normally, that would seem rather chic, but for Gohan it simply made his room empty. It looked like all his room now had was a bed, a chair and a desk that held a small radio.

The morning after Nahog's attack on CC, Gohan, Chichi, Goten, Trunks, Krillin, Yamcha and Tien had all rushed over to the Son residence while Bulma made a couple of phone calls to arrange for a press conference where she would state that she and her family where fine, along with a cover up story. In the meantime, Krillin had pointed out that a lot of people would now be out for Gohan's blood, so there was a good chance they would go to his house.

After that statement, Chichi had quickly arranged for a group of the super-warriors to come with her and help move out most of their stuff. Sofas and the like, Chichi could do without, but she wanted to at least safe all the items they owned that had some sentimental value, along with most of their essential possessions: clothes; the secret stashes of money that Chichi kept in her own and Gohan's bedroom, and her cooking equipment.

After flying back and forth several times in half an hour, the group had emptied out most of the house. Goten, still unable to fly, simply helped lift heavy items and placed them on the Flying Nimbus, which would transport the objects to Oolong's mansion. It was Goten who found his brother in his room, looking at a picture that had been on his desk, but he couldn't see who the picture was from.

After Gohan had noticed that his brother was watching him, Gohan quickly slid the picture into the bag he was holding before walking over to his closet. He opened a cabinet that was far out of the reach of his brother and pulled out the view pieces of clothing that really held meaning to Gohan.

The small sword and training gi that Piccolo had given him for his training.

The outfit he wore on the days that Vegeta and Nappa arrived on earth.

His saiyan armor, a souvenir from the battle with Frieza.

And finally, the outfit, complete with cape, that Piccolo had given him to battle Cell.

Goten had been awed to see those items appear, but Gohan all threw them in the bag to be moved to his new room. They were his memories, his trophies of life, and he would be damned if he let someone else lay their hands on them.

They hadn't been a moment too soon in evacuating the house either. They could already sense a large group of well-trained people approaching the house stealthily through the forest. Krillin went to check it out and returned ten seconds later, saying that an entire army unit was stationed on the mountain and they were closing in on the house. So, without any further waiting, the fighters had all shot off into the sky, Gohan carrying his brother, and made off for Oolong's house faster then the human eye could see.

But now, Oolong was still busy trying to organize a room for everyone, while Bulma lectured Vegeta and Trunks on how to behave at the press conference and Chichi was already going through all the stuff that had been brought back.

It left Gohan sitting alone in his room, with nothing but the radio to break the silence. He had turned it on but it was only fueling the angry fire that was burning inside of him, whenever the young half-saiyan thought of _him_.

A report was being read on what had been found in the Son house, along with yet another warning that Gohan was a dangerous and potentially insane criminal, who should not be approached by anyone.

'_He made his move well._' Gohan had to admit as he sat in his room, brooding. '_In one fell swoop he ruined my name, caused chaos around the world, removed all evidence of the ability to clone and ensure that no-one will ever listen to my story. But I'll get him back; I__'ll make him pay for what he did._' Unconsciously, Gohan started to clench and unclench his fist. '_He ruined me. He made me need to run away from my own home like a criminal. And more then that he hurt Videl and everyone else. I'm going to make him pay__!_'

"I'll kill him." Gohan suddenly found himself whispering into the shadows. "No matter what it takes, I'm going to kill him."

XxX

The following evening found Bulma and Vegeta strolling down the street together, on their way back from the press conference. Unlike what Bulma had expected, the conference had in fact lasted well into lunchtime, much to Trunks and Vegeta's annoyance, and after that she still had some private interviews with reporters. Fortunately, her cover-up wasn't that hard to believe: Bulma had simply said that she and her entire family – husband, parents and son – had snuck out from the main building for a week to enjoy some peace and quiet and were staying at one of the many other houses that the Brief's family owned.

After the press conference, Bulma still had a meeting with the board on how they could deal with the situation, since the main building of CC had been contained a little over four billion dollars in equipment, not to mention how they were now going to continue with the company now that most testing-phase machinery was destroyed.

All in all, it had been an extremely boring day for all three Briefs. So, Bulma didn't mind it when Trunks had asked if he could go ahead and fly to Oolong's mansion already. In fact, she had relished in the time alone with her husband, since her parents had moved to an apartment a bit away from the city to 'enjoy her father's holiday now that he couldn't work anymore.'

The two lovers were on their way to one of the smaller houses that the Brief's owned in East City, both to fool anyone trying to follow them and to enjoy their private time, but to get there they had to move through several smaller streets and alleys, since it was located at the end of town, close to the highway leading out of the city.

It was in one of these streets that a strange figure suddenly stepped into the street and blocked the exit. In the darkness of night, Bulma had a hard time identifying the figure, but Vegeta instantly stepped in front of his wife out of protective instinct. As the figure took a few steps forward, there was a suddenly burst of light coming out of his body.

At once, the stranger looked familiar. Bulma was staring at Gohan, in his transformed state: a Super Saiyan. Her first instinct was to relax, but Vegeta suddenly raised his arm to stop her and immediately transformed into a Super Saiyan as well.

"Go, Woman, get out of here, now!" the Saiyan prince ordered, his golden aura glowing brightly.

"Wha- what's going on?" Bulma asked, stammering as a blast of wind coming from Gohan pushed her back a bit.

"I said get out of here!" Vegeta barked at her, his aura expanding. "This isn't the brat, it's his clone. He's not giving off any energy."

XXXxxxXXXxxx

As always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please leave a review telling me what you think.

Much thanks to my beta Kushin eX for correcting any mistakes I've made while writing this chapter.

as always please leave a review telling me what you think.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, least of all the DBZ universe.

XXXxxxXXXxxx

"I said get out of here!" Vegeta barked at her, his aura expanding. "This isn't the brat, it's his clone. He's not giving off any energy."

The words had hardly left Vegeta's mouth when he already disappeared, charging at Nahog far too fast for Bulma's eyes to follow. Nahog obviously did the same, because to Bulma's eyes both Saiyans simply disappeared, only for a series of loud explosions to appear in the surrounding area, but away from Bulma herself.

'_Good, Vegeta's drawing him away from the city…_' Bulma thought as the full horror of the situation dawned on her. '_If Vegeta and Nahog fight here, there's no way the city can survive…_'

While Bulma hardly had time to turn around and flee the area, Vegeta was engaged in battle with Nahog, quickly moving through the suburbs towards the open plains outside the city. Unlike last time, when Nahog had already transformed and thus held a significant advantage, the two fighters were on equal grounds now, both transformed into Super Saiyans.

Blocking another punch and countering it, Vegeta pushed Nahog back a bit more, giving him enough time and space to land a knee in the clone's stomach, doubling him over in pain. Vegeta's hands locked together and immediately hammered down on Nahog's back, sending the clone flying.

Not wasting any time, Vegeta flew after Nahog, but the half-saiyan had pulled himself to a hold, turned around and started firing a rain of energy blasts at the Saiyan prince. At once Vegeta started flying around, phasing in every now and then, to evade the blasts and continue leading Nahog away from the city. None of the blasts hit their mark, but some of them did do some damage to the surrounding buildings, causing more explosions and sending debris flying.

'W_hat the hell am I doing? I can easily slip through his rapid fire and smash his face in._' Vegeta thought when he had to smash away a complete sofa that had been send flying. Phasing out again, the pure-blood Saiyan quickly advanced on his opponent, continuously phasing in and out, swaying a little to the side every once in a while to avoid further blasts.

He was upon Nahog in less then a second, but he had paid a price for his rush: his face, arms, legs and even his chest all bore some minor cuts. Not enough to hinder the proud warrior's movements but enough to bring blood to the surface. Now closed up, Vegeta and Nahog punched with their rights at the same time, capturing the attacks with their lefts. At the same time the two started powering up, attempting to overpower the other.

"Hgn. Gaarh!"

"Grhm. Kiyaah!"

Suddenly Nahog released, pulling back, just in time to avoid a sudden kick by Vegeta. Instantly his own leg came up to repay the damage, but Vegeta simply caught him and, spinning him around, sent him flying again, further away from the centre of the city and Bulma.

Nahog flew through at least twelve different buildings before he managed to slow himself down and stabilize. But even then it was a bit too late as he smashed into a large, 6 foot wide concrete pillar. The cloned half-saiyan quickly glanced up to see that he was now smashed into one of the pillars that was holding up a part of the highway. On the highway there were still a lot of people, most of them staring in confusion and terror at the sound and sight of explosions appearing – seemingly – out of nowhere.

Just as Nahog sent out his energy enough to obliterate the concrete holding him; Vegeta was upon him again, sending out a full-length kick. Nahog could barely jump to the side to avoid it and quickly flew up. Vegeta's kick instead made contact with the concrete pillar and immediately tore it to shreds, while the force of the kick sent all the debris and remaining pieces of pillar flying up, straight into the highway. But it didn't stop there; instead, it tore right through the highway, creating a massive hole and creating even more debris, this time even including cars and humans.

Flying up after his quarry, Vegeta also flew above the highway, finding Nahog standing on its far side, breathing heavily. The Saiyan prince landed on the other side of the highway, a confidant smirk on his face as he stared at his opponent.

"Well, well. It seems you really are the physical equal of the Eldest Spawn of Kakkarot." He said; eyes still fixed on Nahog's. "You're just as out of shape as he is; your movements just as pathetic."

"Maybe my movements aren't as good as yours, Vegeta," Nahog returned, "But I'm still a lot smarter then you and so far, everything is going exactly the way I want them to."

"Oh, you're already looking for your death? In that case all you had to do was ask me and I would have obliged. No need to make such a rude call like destroying my house."

At the same time, both fighters sent forth an energy blast which connected in the middle of the highway, exploding instantly. Both moved to the side, keeping the exact distance between them as they fired energy blats after energy blast. Behind them, the highway was littered with explosions, cries of pain and horror and the flying pieces of car, debris and human. Neither fighter blinked, knowing that even a nanosecond of losing focus was the end.

Suddenly, in the midst of one explosion, Nahog vanished, not moving further anymore. Before Vegeta had a chance to turn around, Nahog already shot forth through the explosion, his fist making contact with Vegeta's jaw. Immediately, the clone followed it up with another punch to the face and a kick in the gut, but Vegeta had already recovered; he grabbed the leg, kicked Nahog in the chest and then fired a blast after him.

Nahog kicked the blast up into the sky, where the following explosion would have been big enough to destroy a quarter of the city.

"Hey, now you're suddenly using big blasts?" Nahog asked in a mocking tone. "What's the matter, before you were a bit reluctant to fire those things. Or is because we're far away enough from your beloved wife now?"

The proud prince didn't answer, instead phasing in front of Nahog and punching him in the face. Nahog, having anticipated the move, fired a blast straight at Vegeta's stomach, causing both fighters to be send flying in opposite directions. Recovering more quickly because he didn't have a ball of energy pushing him back Nahog turned and flew straight at Vegeta, just as the prince managed to free himself of the ball. Another punch at Vegeta's nose finally succeeded in its mission; blood came gushing out of Vegeta's – now broken – nose. A kick to the gut ensured that the Saiyan prince would not retaliate for a split second, which was all the time Nahog needed.

Pulling out a vial from his pocket, which had miraculously remained intact throughout their fight, Nahog quickly caught a few drops of the blood flowing from Vegeta's nose in it, before the prince could recover. With a split-second of free time, Vegeta had recovered and smashed both his fists into Nahog's stomach, sending the terrorist flying.

Recovering at a safe distance, Nahog quickly closed the vial and replaced into his pocket. Then, without warning he raised his hands over his head and gathered a massive amount of energy there.

"You'd better catch this Vegeta, or else your dear wife still won't be able to survive this battle." Nahog said, throwing the attack straight at the centre of the city. Realizing how much power there would be inside that attack, even being able to sense the energy now that it had left Nahog's body; Vegeta knew that Nahog was right; that attack was strong enough to obliterate the entire country if it exploded.

XxX

Trunks had been flying towards Oolong's house for a little over five minutes when it had happened.

He had been enjoying a flight at a relaxed speed, flying above the clouds and trying not to think about all his destroyed toys back home, when he suddenly felt his father powering up, transforming into a Super Saiyan.

Knowing that his father would not power up unless there was a reason, and the only reason that the Prince of all Saiyan could have was that evil Gohan clone that they'd been told about, Trunks stayed in mid-air for a few seconds, trying to sense someone else in the area. But there was no-one around that could be strong enough to make his father transform, at least as far as the lavender-haired 8-year old could tell.

It was a few seconds later that he remembered Gohan saying that the evil Gohan-clone didn't have any energy to sense.

"Man, this is weird. But dad's already fighting; he won't need any help… Dad can beat anyone; he'll only get angry if I get in his way." He said to himself, before remembering something to cheer him up. "But this is the only time I'll ever get to see dad beat Gohan up… even if it is a stupid, evil clone. And it's the only time I'll ever get to see a real battle. I'll go check it out; all I have to do is make sure I don't get in dad's way. He won't need it, but maybe I can even make a really heroic rescue and save his life… that would be so awesome."

His mind made up, Trunks turned back around and, flying at top speed, made his way back towards West City, careful not to transform. Gohan had told both Goten and him that their transformations would serve as their secret weapon, so they had to keep it a secret unless they really had no other choice.

Trunks reached West City in a minute and a half, just in time to see the fake Gohan throw a large blast of energy towards the city. Although the clone had no energy, Trunks could feel that the energy in that one blast was more then he could handle. Fortunately, his father quickly moved in front of the blast, catching it and stopping it in its tracks.

Trunks aimed himself towards the fight, intend on attacking Nahog in the back now that he wasn't paying attention, but was distracted before he could do anything. He heard a scream coming from down in the streets, a female scream.

His mother's scream.

Turning back and looking down, he immediately saw what was going on. Four guys, of varying sizes, where standing around his mother, one of them having pushed her down to the ground, raising a shiny object in his hand to stab her.

Trunks didn't even think about what he did, he simply acted.

Dropping himself down, he appeared before the man sitting atop his mother and kicked him in the face before the man even had a chance to see the half-saiyan prince. Phasing out again, he appeared next to another and punched him in the gut, sending that crook flying through a stone wall behind him, where he was quickly met by a friend of his who left an identical hole, courtesy of a shoulder-throw.

The last of the four got a drop-kick in the back of the head before he had even seen what happened to his three friends. The force of the impact with the concrete was enough to crack the stone, but Trunks didn't pay attention.

Breathing heavily, the lavender-haired youth looked at his mother to make sure she was alright. It took Bulma a full second to realize what had happened when, to her eyes, all four attackers where suddenly knocked down at the same time.

"Trunks!" she almost screamed when she saw her son, standing next to a previous attacker, now obviously dead. "What are you – I thought you went back already. How'd you?"

"Mom, are you alright? They didn't hurt you, did they?" he asked back, not answering any questions but looking over his mother with worry instead. When she nodded to indicate that she was alright, Trunks almost cried out in relief. He ran over to her, wanting to stay close to his mother to make sure she would stay safe, but he never got there.

After taking two steps, another person suddenly appeared before Trunks, pulled him up by his hair until Trunks was well over three feet off the ground, and then kneed him in the stomach so hard that Trunks vomited blood.

In a single fluid motion, the attacker locked arm around Trunks' neck and head, placing a finger at Trunks' temple. Looking from the corner of his eye, Trunks could identify his attacker, although he was starting to get dizzy from lack of oxygen.

It was Gohan. Or at least, someone that looked identical to Gohan.

Over at the other end, Bulma stood completely paralyzed with fear as Nahog pulled out another vial and scooped up some of Trunks' blood, which was still streaming out of his mouth. Once he was done, he looked directly at Bulma.

"Please, let him go!" Bulma pleaded, terror obvious in her eyes, tears starting to flow from her eyes. "Don't hurt him, he didn't do anything wrong!"

"You know, neither did my brothers and sisters." Nahog replied, his voice far more venomous then anything Gohan's had ever been. "But you still allowed them to die like they were nothing. I should do the same." To emphasize his point, Nahog squeezed on Trunks' neck a little harder making the child squirm desperately.

"NO!" Bulma yelled, tears now streaming down her face as she stepped forward. Nahog released his grip a bit, allowing Trunks to regain some air. "Don't hurt him." Instead of answering, Nahog placed his finger back at Trunks' temple, making the traditional sign for a pistol with his hand.

"To many people, this would seem like a pointless and weak threat, but we both know what I can do like this if I want to." Nahog said softly. Standing across him, Bulma could only shake her head desperately, pleading as tears streamed down her face. "But I think there are two things a mother should never see. Their children abused and their children murdered. Do as I say and you won't have to see anything happen to your precious son."

"What is it? I'll do anything, just don't hurt Trunks!"

"The man on your left is holding an injection needle. Take it, draw some of your own blood and give it to me." Nahog ordered. "And don't mess up. If you do, I'll just have to take some of your blood myself after I've killed your son. Do it now!"

Hands shaking, Bulma slowly stepped back towards the man that had been sitting atop her and opened his hand to get the injection needle. Gently placing it in her arm, she drew the vial full of blood before pulling it out.

"Here, take it. Now let my son go." Bulma cried out, looking over at Nahog again. Nahog, holding a now crying and wet-panted Trunks, slowly walked towards Bulma. Feeling a sense of dread, the blue-haired genius took a few steps backward until she was pushed against a wall.

Nahog smiled evilly at her, bearing down on her from his advantage in height. Slowly, he moved the hand placed at Trunks' temple forward, grabbing the injection needle from Bulma's hand. As soon as he had it, he placed it inside his pocket, next to the other two vials, and released Trunks. Still struggling for breath, the young prince crashed to the floor.

Nahog leaned in a bit further, staring straight into Bulma's eyes; his own eyes alight with hatred. His hand now reached for Bulma's neck, clamping down on her throat and lifting the genius up.

"Don't worry, 'mother.'" He said in a mocking and dangerous tone. "Once I'm done with Gohan, I'll come after you. You will suffer just as he will. I will destroy you both, even if it's the last thing I ever do. My family will be avenged. You get to live for now, but give a message to Gohan. Tell him that his destruction is inevitable, just as my brother's and sister's was. Tell him that I'll get to him no matter what. Tell him, he's just another pawn in my plan."

With that, Nahog pushed Bulma into the wall a bit, cracking the stones, and released her before phasing out, standing mere inches away from Bulma.

Up in the sky, Vegeta had finally managed to push Nahog's blast into outer space and immediately returned to Bulma and Trunks' energy signals. He had noticed Trunks' arrival but couldn't warn his son at all. Arriving at the scene, Vegeta could barely stop his scream of pure and utter rage.

His wife was sitting up against the wall, looking absolutely terrified as tears streamed down her face. She was holding an equally scared Trunks and Vegeta could already tell that the boy had wet himself.

'_That pathetic would-be-Saiyan piece of shit will pay for this!_' he vowed as he powered down and picked up his wife and son.

XxX

Gohan and the others had all shot up the moment that Vegeta transformed, but before they had even left Oolong's mansion, Vegeta was already on the way towards them. The fight had been unusually short, not even three minutes long. Compared to the normal lengths of the fights that the Z-fighters were used to – often hours and sometimes even days – that had been a total shock. Had Vegeta really killed Nahog that quickly?

Once Vegeta had walked into the mansion, looking absolutely furious while covered in small injuries and carrying an obviously hurt Bulma and Trunks it was obvious that the answer as no.

The sheer killing intent and pure rage that the Saiyan Prince was radiating stopped anyone else from speaking up until he had placed his family on the couch with surprising gentleness. Finally, after the prince stood up, it was Gohan who approached him and spoke up.

"Vegeta, what happen-"

Before he had a chance to finish his sentence, Vegeta had punched Gohan in the face, sending him flying through the wall on the other side of the room. In the same movement he turned around and faced Gohan.

"Brat!" he started. "Tell me everything about those clones and tell me now! That pathetic excuse for a fighter is DEAD! I'm going to tear him to little pieces, he's going to suffer! All of you get out of my way or I'll blast you all to join that damned fool Kakkarot."

After Vegeta's rampage, Gohan had recovered and appeared before him again.

"Vegeta, calm down and tell us what's happened. After that we'll talk about how I'm going to kill Nahog." He said with an uncharacteristic glare.

"You!? You don't even know how to fight anyone you weak punk. I'm going to kill him and finish this here and now." Vegeta's glare matched Gohan's perfectly.

"Don't think so, pal. Nahog's mine."

"Will you two stop it?" a new, female voice asked before someone coughed loudly.

Stopping their glaring match, the two warriors looked to the couch, where Chichi and Dende where checking up on Bulma and Trunks. Chichi had been the one to interrupt the Saiyans, while Bulma had started coughing. At once Vegeta stepped forward, kneeling in front of his wife.

"It's nothing serious." Dende said after making a quick check. "She's got a few bruises and her windpipe's been squeezed a bit, but there's been no serious damage. I can fix it in a jiffy." At once the familiar glow appeared around the Guardian's hands and began to spread out over Bulma's body. Almost instantly the bruises and pained look on Bulma's face disappeared, which made Vegeta visibly relax.

Dende moved over to Trunks, again making a quick checkup to diagnose what was wrong.

"Trunks is a bit more hurt then Bulma had been, but I won't have a problem. He obviously has internal bleeding based on the blood coming from his mouth, and his shallow and pained breathing indicates that he's hurt his lungs. Maybe one of his ribs broke and punctured his lung. Give me a few minutes."

While Dende focused his attention on Trunks, Bulma got up and, seeing that she was saved, let out a breath of relief. Vegeta, on the other hand, didn't make a move, instead keeping an eye on Dende as he did his work.

"Bulma dear, are you all right?" Chichi asked carefully, quickly checking Bulma up herself.

"Yeah, we're alright. Nahog didn't really hurt us. He wasn't out to kill us, he wanted something else."

"What was it?" Gohan asked anxiously. "What was he after"

"Blood," Bulma said, still not completely recovered. "He wanted my blood and Trunks'"

"What?" everyone in the room looked surprised at the news. It was Gohan who first realized what that would mean.

"But that would mean… it can't be. Why would he? Unless… Vegeta, did Nahog also draw some of your blood in the fight?"

"I think so." The Saiyan Prince said after a second. "While I had the upper hand, he managed to land several attacks on my nose and he broke it as you can see. Afterwards he grabbed something from his pocket and created a distraction so he could escape."

This seemed to alarm both Gohan and Bulma, making their eyes go wide with fear as they suddenly realized what it meant precisely. Piccolo, #18, Krillin, Roshi and Vegeta came to the same conclusion a second later.

"Bulma…" Krillin started, fear in his voice. "Exactly how many of those clone tubes did you have left before Capsule Corp was destroyed?"

"I think there where four, maybe five left…"

"My god," Piccolo started. "That means…"

"Nahog's going to clone Vegeta, Trunks and Bulma." Roshi added.

"We're going to have to fight Vegeta AND Gohan?" Krillin stated. "That's it. We're all gonna die."

No-one spoke up for a while after Krillin not-so-cheerful statement. After nearly a minute, Piccolo suddenly raised another question.

"Why Bulma?" the Namek asked, a hand rubbing his chin in deep thought. "Vegeta is an obvious choice, because he's one of the strongest – if not the strongest – of us all. Trunks is a talented fighter and can therefore be of use in a battle against us despite his inexperience, but why Bulma? She can't fight against us at all. If he only has four tubes, that means he can only create four clones at once. Why waste one on an ally that is no help in a fight. Or does he plan to delay us for so long that he can make an army of clones?"

"That's not possible." Gohan said, now passing across the room, also in deep thought. "The cloning tubes can only be used to create an adult body once, afterwards the growth-enhancing fluid inside the tubes runs out and the device malfunctions. It was another problem that we experienced and one of the reasons we stopped. So, if we assume that he has four cloning tubes, he can create only four fighters. Creating a clone of a child like Trunks only costs about three-fourths of the fluid, but that still makes it impossible to create a new clone."

"And what if he makes a Vegeta clone, a Bulma clone and afterwards a group of Trunks clones? Or maybe starts production of the tubes and fluid?" Master Roshi asked from his position on the couch. "If he really is connected with a powerful, world-wide crime group then it shouldn't be impossible to create the tubes or fluid would it?"

"Theoretically, it's possible, but it's very impractical." Bulma answered. "We spent a long time creating the cloning tubes and they're very hard to recreate. Without the proper equipment inside my lab, which could not be moved, it's impossible to make more tubes, or create the growth fluid. And creating those devices from nothing takes at least half a year, even for Gohan and me. Add in the two months needed for my clone to grow, and we have at least eight months before they can create more clones, ten months before Nahog can create more battle-ready clones. No, his only bet is the first group he can make, if he can even last that long."

"Which brings us back to my question: Why Bulma?" Piccolo repeated.

"Maybe it's because he wants someone to help him think and plan?" Yamcha suggested. "If there's someone who knows about the way we think and act, it's Bulma. She's been around all of us the longest and she's is the smartest out of us all."

"It's a possibility and certainly sounds logical." Gohan remarked. "Nahog will need more then simple brute force to defeat us. Nahog is my equal in battle and Vegeta's clone will be his equal, so he's going to need something else to tip the scales. That something is a good strategy and a sound plan."

"Aren't we forgetting something?" #18 suddenly said, standing in the corner with a sleepy Marron in her arms. Seeing that she had all the attention of the fighters on her, the beautiful blond android continued. "You said that clones can be enhanced. What if he gives the Bulma clone the ability to fight by injecting her with energy? And we're forgetting that even with the three samples that he took today, he still has a fourth tube ready. Who is he going to clone next?"

"Or…" Oolong now added. "What if he uses the one sure source of DNA he has for sure?" When he saw that all the others looked surprised at him, the pig quickly transformed into Gohan to show his point. "What if he creates another clone of himself! Or creates two clones of Vegeta?"

XxX

As the door was opened, Nahog walked into the lab, still having difficulty breathing and walking thanks to the beating that Vegeta had given him. While the adrenaline had been rushing through his system as he had confronted Trunks and Bulma he had been able to suppress the weakness but after the hormones had subsided he felt the full beating he had been given.

'_Damn, that was even worse then I thought._' He realized as his bruises stung. '_It was more then just a difference in power, my body wasn't used to the movements of a battle anymore. Vegeta had the upper-hand completely. If it had gone on for another ten minutes I would have been seriously hurt._'

"Damn, man what the hell happened to you?" the young scientist asked as Nahog finally reached his lab. "You look like you got into a wrestling match with a super-speed train or something."

"Yeah, it was something like that. But what's more important is that I got this." Carefully, Nahog lifted the vials out of his pocket and handed them over.

"Alright, nice one." The assistant exclaimed, looking over the vials. "There should be plenty of clear DNA in here to create a clone of whoever it is. Want me to get started already while you get yourself checked up?"

"No don't." Nahog answered. "Just make sure these samples are kept in good condition until I return, I have some specific plans with them. No-one is to start the cloning process until I return."

"Gotcha. Anything else?"

"Yes, how is the first clone coming along?"

"Exactly as scheduled. It's just now entered the early fetus stage. Think we should get started now?"

Nahog thought for a second, his eyes automatically moving towards the sole active cloning tube. Then he spoke up.

"Proceed as planned, give the first injection now and then another when it reaches a new stage of development. Alert me if anything happens."

"Gotcha. Now go and get a check up, you look like you've got a couple of broken ribs."

With a hint of a smile, the half-saiyan turned around and moved towards the elevator again.

"Sure thing; will do."

XxX

"**Be warned that the following images may ****possibly be inappropriate for certain viewers."**

Videl was sitting in her room, wrapped up in her own blankets and her eyes glued to the TV in her room. She couldn't contain her own body as it shivered violently and fear gripped at her heart.

The news that she was watching now switched to again show that horrible vision.

A clear shot of Gohan's face, formed into a very scary, hollow laugh. The same scary and hollow laugh that she had heard when Gohan had held her on the bed. And like before; the laugh was followed by a shot of incredibly terrifying event.

The first time she had heard it, had been a night that she would never ever want to remember again. The second time she had heard it – this time on TV – it had been followed by the death of several hundred people and the destruction of Capsule Corporation and three or so city blocks around it.

This time, the third time, Gohan had not laughed his scary laugh. Instead, the news had placed the laugh in front of it to show a good shot of Gohan's face. This time, he had gotten into a fight with someone that had not yet been identified and part of East City had been destroyed as a result. Four buildings had been ruined, but most of the damage had been done to the highway. Well over five miles of the highway around East City had been completely and completely obliterated. Not even dust had remained.

But that had left another problem: several hundred people had died, but there were no bodies or anything else to identify the diseased. That meant that no-one would know who had died.

"How on earth can he do that?" Videl questioned herself with dread. "How can he cause so much destruction in such a short time? If he's really that strong… then he could have easily killed me after what he did..."

She looked at the TV-screen again, seeing a replay of Gohan's deeds of destruction. Again another shot of Gohan's evil laugh. On that screen, Videl immediately turned the TV off.

"Why didn't he kill me after he raped me?" she asked again. "This is worse then being killed… I hate this feeling of being scared. I would have wanted him to kill me! Anything is better then this feeling of fear…"

XXXxxxXXXxxx

And that's chapter 5, hope you liked the Vegeta vs Nahog battle, along with some minor action for Trunks.

As always, thanks to my beta Kushin-Ex for going over the chapter and correcting mistakes I've made.

Please leave a review telling me what you think.


	6. Chapter 6

ToaK 6:

XXXxxxXXXxxx

"Hey Trunks, are you in here?" Goten asked as he opened the door to the room he shared with his best friend. The lights were all on and Trunks was sitting in the corner, curled up. As soon as Goten's voice was heard, Trunks tried to stop his sniffles and wiped his hand across his face, but it was too late. Goten had already seen that the lavender-haired boy was crying.

Closing the door behind him, Goten walked in until he was standing just in front of his best friend. "Were you crying?" he asked, never really one for subtlety.

"No; I wasn't!" lied Trunks, his eyes still red and puffy. "And why are you here anyway? I thought you were still in the room with the others."

"Nope, I sneaked out just like you did." The Goku look-a-like said, now sitting down on the bed. "I didn't really want to see Gohan and your dad get into a fight, they both looked really angry. And I don't really understand anything they say whenever they mention that cloning thingy."

"Of course my dad's angry!" Trunks almost shouted. "Look at me! I couldn't do anything and I look pathetic. I can't believe I – I – why me?" Fresh tears started streaming from his eyes as he buried his head between his knees again. Only now did Goten notice that Trunks was still wearing his dirty pants.

"You know." He said, but Trunks didn't react, his body still heaving with heavy shaking. "I once peed in my pants as well, when I was playing in the forest with Gohan. We were really far away from home and on the way back, I really had to go. Gohan said I'd have to hold it in a little longer, because we were almost at home. But I really, REALLY had to go bad, so I peed while we were walking. But Mommy and Gohan weren't angry with me at all; they only said that I had to be careful and try not to do it next time, since it's really hard to wash it all clean."

"You don't get it do you Goten!" Trunks said, raising his head to look at his friend again. "I didn't just pee my pants for no reason like you did. I got so scared when he was threatening me that I peed my pants! It's something totally different then your stupid little story!"

"It's not a stupid story! It's real!" Goten protested, but Trunks ignored him.

"It's nothing like that stupid accident you had, I was defeated in a second; I couldn't even do anything against that Evil Gohan. And then, I got so scared because I thought I was going to die that I… I… I did that! All I could do was think about how I was going to die and how scared I was. I'm supposed to be a warrior, my father trained me, taught me everything I know so I could be a warrior when I was needed. He was training me so I could be the strongest… instead I was defeated so easily."

"Trunks…" Goten said, getting up and looking at his friend again.

"Aren't warriors supposed to be the greatest of fighters? Fighters so great they can't be defeated, brave people who never worry about themselves and always care about the welfare of other people, never scared of death. I couldn't do that Goten. I've failed my father."

Having done his rant, Trunks had calmed down significantly, finally looking at Goten instead of glaring at him.

"What'd you mean Trunks? How can you fail your father?"

"He did all that – he trained me, taught me how to fight and what it means to be true to my blood – so I could become a proud man, a great warrior. Instead I'm this pathetic little failure that couldn't do anything. What if he's disappointed with me? That's why he's so angry, I know he is. He's angry that despite everything he taught me I couldn't even protect my mother."

"You know Trunks; a son can never disappoint his father as long as he tries everything that he can." Goten said, with a look of deep concentration. "It's something that Gohan told me once, when I was wondering about Daddy and if he would ever be disappointed in us for not being full-time fighters like he and your Daddy are."

XxX

Having taken a hot bath to calm her nerves, which had been soothed somewhat by discussing what exactly what was going on – thinking and working had always calmed Bulma down significantly, she'd made some of her best breakthroughs when she was still angry because of Vegeta's latest remark – Bulma was ready to go back and discuss even more.

'_For once, we're facing an enemy where I can actually help!'_ she thought with triumph, still remembering how helpless she had been against the likes of Freeza and Cell. Even now, she wouldn't be of much use in the fight itself, but Nahog was playing a clever strategic game. And when it came to thinking, she was the undisputed number one in their group, which made her very useful in predicting the actions of their enemy. Finally, those chess lessons she had been taking were coming to use.

While Bulma had been in the bath, Chichi had gone to check up on Trunks and silently – being the wise mother that she was – gave him a change of clothes and told him to join his mother in the bath. Bulma couldn't remember the last time she had actually bathed her son, due to how busy she was with work, but it had been an excellent idea of Chichi's. Trunks was obviously still hurt on the inside from the fight, just like she was still shocked and scared. Being together, not even saying anything as Bulma washed Trunks' hair and back, had helped them release their internal struggles.

It took Trunks nearly ten minutes – when she was already done washing him - to start the struggles that Bulma had been expecting from the beginning about how he was old enough to wash himself and how weird it was for a boy to bathe with his mother. As he jumped out of the tube, dried himself off and left the room he had at least regained his former posture, standing tall and proud like his father. A natural posture born from always watching his father and trying to look like him.

As she got dressed and saw herself in the mirror, she suddenly remembered the message that Nahog had given her to deliver to Gohan. Once she was dressed, she immediately met up with the eldest demi-saiyan alive in the hallway as he was heading to his room, followed by Piccolo. No doubt the Namek was worried about Gohan and, like he had always done, responded by keeping a close eye on him.

"Gohan, I forgot." She said, her face still beat-red from the hot bath. "When Nahog forced me to give him my blood, he gave me a message for you."

"What?" Gohan said, his eyes instantly turning darker. "What did he say, tell me!"

Gohan's sudden shout drew the attention from the people in the rooms, causing all doors to be thrown open wide as everyone looked to see what was going on.

"He told me to tell this. I'm going to quote him on it, otherwise we might just miss something; 'Tell him that his destruction is inevitable, just as my brother's and sister's was. Tell him that I'll get to him no matter what. Tell him, he's just another pawn in my plan.' Got it?"

"Yeah" Gohan said, his look darkening even further. "Inevitable, huh? We'll see about that. And again with the brothers and sisters…"

"What does he mean by brothers and sisters?" Chichi suddenly asked, Goten and Trunks standing just behind her. "He said it to you as well, didn't he? What does he mean with it?"

"I'm… not really sure." Gohan said, not meeting his mother's eyes.

"Can he mean the other clones that you created?" Piccolo suddenly asked, his eyes almost drilling daggers into Gohan's skull. "You've mentioned that you had to create multiple clones, but we don't see or hear anything from any clone other then Nahog."

"Yeah, we did." Bulma said, also looking at the floor, her eyes not willing to make contact with anyone as her posture weakened significantly. "We created a lot of clones to experiment with different powers and people, but none of them could be relied on, because of the different personalities."

"Then, what happened to the other clones?" Chichi finally asked, already dreading the answer. "Did they die when Nahog destroyed Capsule Corporation?"

"No, they were already dead then." Gohan said, his eyes finally meeting with his mothers. Instead of the gentle or serious look that she was used to seeing, or even the look of shame she was expecting, she was scared by what she saw. Gohan's eyes, even now, burned with hatred. "They all died six months ago, when I killed them. But apparently, I wasn't thorough enough. That one bastard still survived."

XxX

Nahog was lying in his bed, sleeping to try and recover some of the damage that Vegeta had inflicted, but his sleep was anything but peaceful. He was tossing and turning in his sleep, feeling pain assault his body over and over and over.

"No… Don't…" he mumbled, rolling over again. He was reliving the same nightmare he had been having for months now. Only on rare occasions, when he went to sleep with his mind completely blank because of his actions with ladies before sleeping, did the dream not occur.

_Nahog – then still without a name other then the designated number, #26 – was still a young boy who's body was around eight when he had been pulled out the tube, along with all the others that where still growing. At first, he had been overjoyed__. Finally, he could do __something;__ move around like he had always done in his memories. He clearly remembered moving, running even fighting but there was nothing that his body could do. It was still far __too__ weak. There had been few things as infuriating as his body not moving like he had remembered it did. _

_But before he could fully experiment with his body, he had been placed inside a room with many __others;__ some of them looking just like he did while others looked different. But, among them they all looked alike. Some men with black hair much like his own, others with blond. And the woman, many of them had Bulma's green hair and looks. As #26 was still looking around the room in awe, one of the other Gohan clones suddenly pulled him to the side and whispered something._

"_You, you don't have any energy I can sense!" he said, sounding extremely stressed. This particular Gohan clone looked like he was around ten or so, nearly on the pinnacle of Gohan's power. "You can get out of here, quickly follow me." Before #26 could react, the older clone had already grabbed him around the arm and dragged him along. _

"_Here, take this." He said, pushing a vial into the pocket on #26's shirt and pants. "Those things should help stabilize your growth, #5 helped steal them from the lab. Take them once every two weeks to ensure you can grow. You have to grow."_

"_Why? What's going on?" _

"_He's going to destroy us, all of us. They're done with us, so he's going to get rid of us. But you can hide, he can't find you if you stay out of sight! Use those vials, grow and finally kill that bastard."_

_By that time, the door had opened and the real Gohan had walked in. closing the door behind him again, Gohan immediately transformed into a Super Saiyan and charged up an energy blast._

"_Hide behind me, I'll cover you. Wait until he's gone and then get the hell out of here!" before he could say more, the older clone's skin hardened, turning into a sort of metal. This had been his special ability. Combined with his own power level and a shield of energy that he created, he could stop the blast from killing #26.__ But__ his body remained pure metal after he had died, keeping him in place as Gohan turned to leave the room. _

_For a split second, #26 could see the face of Gohan, just as he remembered seeing it a million times before in the mirror. Gohan's face hadn't even changed when he killed all these clones, so many of them. He looked almost like he had looked when he fought Cell: cold calculation, not caring about the lives of these beings._

'_I'm not going to let him get away with this.' #26 thought to himself. 'I'll make him pay for this, I'll get revenge for all of you I swear it. And he gave me the tools to get that revenge, by making me his clone. I'll destroy him!"_

"AARGH!" Nahog shouted as he woke back up, his entire body soaked with sweat and, in some places, blood. At once, a surge of immense pain washed over his body, reminding him of the injuries that he still had. As he could have expected, the damage inflicted by Vegeta was much greater then what could be healed in a mere nap.

Looking for a distraction, Nahog looked around his room. It was surprisingly cold in its decorations, since he didn't have anything to call his own. There was only one possession he had, a possession he had made good use of since he escaped. The vials that had held the growth fluid the older clone had given him. The fluid that had allowed him to fully mature his body so it could work properly with his mind. The vials created by Bulma to withstand virtually any impact. The vials he had used the day before to obtain the blood of Vegeta, Trunks and Bulma.

Shifting his weight even a little, Nahog was assaulted once again by pain.

'_Damnit, I can't work like this._' He realized. The pain would stop him from moving in general, let alone the extremely precision work that he would have to do right now. And he couldn't afford to wait for his injuries to heal on their own.

"There's one way I can quickly get back to work." Nahog realized after searching through Gohan's memories. Forcing his body to stand up and ignore the pain, Nahog opened the window and immediately flew out to his new destination.

XxX

"You're swing is too wide, keep the movement sharp and compact!" The trainer yelled from the side as Videl stepped back from her attack. Despite the comment on her flaw, her target – one of her father's students – fell to the ground clutching his stomach. At once the other two, still unhurt, opponents charged forward to attack Videl in a combination attack.

Only yesterday Videl had sat in her room, seeing the news of Gohan's cruel acts of terrorism. Her father had overheard that she had almost wished that Gohan had killed her and he suddenly barged into her room, looking furious.

"_Videl, don't ever think like that!"_ he had said. _"Never look for death for your solution, there's nothing there. It's the end of the line, once you get there there's no going back. Don't long for death. You can't correct any mistakes that have been made – by you or others – if you're dead."_ That may not have been his exact wording – Videl hadn't really remembered everything he had said, since she was still surprised by his sudden entrance and scared at the news of Gohan – but it was the gist of the message.

"_Tomorrow you're going to come out of your room even if I'll have to drag you out of here.__" _He finally said, his tone ensuring that he would accept no resistance. _"You're going to do some training again tomorrow, get your mind of off thing__; maybe it'll give you something to vend your pent-up energy.__ I couldn't bear it if you also disappeared suddenly, like your mother did three years ago."_ It may have been a low blow of Hercule to mention his wife's sudden death due to an accident, but it had been the final push Videl needed to get shocked back into action.

Sharpener, having been invited by Hercule to join the session and distract Videl further, was also in the room, sparring with another student of Hercules in the ring to Videl's left. But unlike Videl, the blond-haired boy was getting his ass kicked by his opponent. Whenever Videl glanced their way she couldn't help but smile as Sharpener was being beaten by a young man almost half his size. Even with the size advantage, Sharpener couldn't even touch his opponent while suffering punches and kicks all the time.

But now Videl's attention turned back to her two opponents. The first one, a brown-haired fighter with short spiky hair, was already upon her and assaulted her with a reverse tornado kick, which Videl easily dodged by dropping herself down as she used a low roundhouse kick to counter it.

But this was not one of Hercule's students for nothing. Using the force already gained from his initial kick, the fighter pushed off with his other leg, easily evading Videl's leg swipe, and spun around in mid-air once again. His heel was now coming down to try and make more intimate contact with the back of Videl's skull.

Not having enough time to dodge it properly, Videl rolled to the side, just in time to avoid the attack, and escaped the spiky-haired fighter. But when she got up, she just barely jumped up and avoided being pulled into a bear hug from behind by the other fighter. This one was well over twice Videl's size – and three times her bulk – had no hair and only a red moustache to identify him. He'd been trained to use mostly wrestling and grappling moves, making him dangerous up close. And he was surprisingly fast for a guy his size.

Still jumping up from evading Baldy's grapple, Videl grabbed his shoulders and flipped herself over, landing a knee in the back of his head. Or at least, she would have, if Spiky hadn't interfered and attacked her from the side, knocking her back to the ground. Hercule had chosen his students well; they obviously knew how to trust each other and both were competent martial artists as they pushed Videl. Just as he had intended and predicted, Videl's mind wasn't even on Gohan or his acts, or her recent depression, as she needed to fully focus on the fight.

Taking the initiative this time, Videl charged forward, her left hand rose in defense and her right ready for offense.

XxX

"Finally," Nahog said as the large stone pillar entered his field of vision. "I'm almost rid of all the damn bruises. I guess I should be glad I didn't fight Vegeta when he was really pissed…" he adjusted his course so he flew almost straight up. In half a minute of flying Nahog had reached what he was searching for.

The large top of the tower, a building made out of pure stone and able to house the entire group of Z fighters, was a place that Nahog had – in his memories – often heard about, but he didn't know a lot about the interior. Gohan had hardly ever been inside Korin's tower, only hearing about it from his father. Goku and Krillin where usually the ones who picked up the magical Senzu Beans that had saved their lives more then once.

For a few seconds, Nahog anticipated a fight, worried that maybe someone had noticed his approach and was waiting for him; or that maybe there were some others here, but once he could see inside it was clear that the tower was empty.

Relaxed once again, Nahog touched down on the sacred ground and at once started looking around.

"Shame, I was kind of hoping the old cat would be around." Nahog mused as he searched. "Would be fun to see how he'd react to me. Now where does he keep his beans?"

Focusing on his search, Nahog continued looking around Korin Tower, but it took him well over an hour to find the right room. There were around twenty plants that grew the famed beans, but in a single glance Nahog could tell that most of them weren't fully matured yet. There were only two beans that had fully matured and Korin had been kind enough to cut them off the plant and place them in a cup on a table.

"Only two… damn, I was hoping for a few more." Nahog said as he placed one of the beans in his mouth and swallowed it whole. The other one he placed in his pocket as his injuries immediately healed. "And none of these other beans look anywhere close to fully matured. I can't wait for them to finish growing and I don't know if they need any sort of special care."

Taking one more look around the room and ensuring that none of the other plants where even close to ready, Nahog made his decision.

"It's too bad, but I can't allow the others to have the beans. They have Dende at their side to heal them already. I can't allow them to have these too."

Gathering his energy, Nahog raised his arm and immediately blasted the plants to kingdom come.

"That takes care of that. And just to make sure Korin doesn't have any secret stores…"

Nahog shot through the wall, appearing outside again, before turning around and gathering his energy again. A much larger ball of energy formed this time, the same size as the top of the tower. Releasing it, Nahog turned around and flew away. The ball connected with Korin Tower and immediately exploded, devouring the stone tower. The home of the Cat Deity was destroyed a second later, already completely unfit for living after the initial explosion, but Nahog finished things off by shooting a second blast at the large stone pillar. The damage to the tower prevented it from holding Korin's home, which fell to the earth while collapsing itself. The remains of the tower followed a second later, reducing any trace of where Korin's house had once been standing.

"And now that that's over with, it's time to get back to work. Enhancing those clones won't get done all by itself." Nahog said as he turned around and flew back to his lab before the Z fighters could arrive.

XXXxxxXXXxxx

Chapter six done. Please drop a review telling me what you think.

As always, much thanks to my beta Kushin-eX for going over this chapter and correcting any mistakes that I've made.


	7. Chapter 7

IMPORTANT NOTE: I'm working on a scientific research project among gamers and fanfiction writers and I would like to ask everyone who reads this for assistance: our research is based on a questionnaire that I will link to in the next chapter, if you would all be so nice as to answer it that would really be a big help. The data will of course be completely anonymous. Thanks and enjoy the chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the DB/DBZ/DBGT universe. Someone else owns it all and is prolly making money off it.

* * *

"Mom, Gohan's locked in his room again." Goten whined as he and Trunks walked into the living room, looking downcast. "He wouldn't even come out to play with us…"

"Yeah…" Trunks agreed as he sat down, placing his head on his small fists. "Seriously, Gohan is so not cool right now… He's been locked in there for two weeks now. When is he going to become normal again? Before he was a dork, but at least he was nicer then he is now."

"My brother is not a dork!" Goten immediately protested. Trunks flared up as well, but Piccolo pulled both boys up by their belts before they could start a fight.

"Well, you two probably don't understand the significance since your lives never depended on it, but Korin's senzu-beans are often real lifesavers. They've saved us more times then we care to count." Yamcha said, raising his head over the newspaper he was reading.

"Well, as disturbing as it is to know that Nahog has senzu beans at his dismissal, I don't think that's the real reason Gohan's so busy in there don't you?" Roshi said as he was also 'reading' his own magazines.

"What's he doing in there anyway?" Tien didn't even stop his morning push-ups as he asked.

"Research," Bulma immediately said. "He's going over every bit of information that we have on Nahog and everything he said or shown to others. Since he can't sense Nahog's location, he has to find him by other means, which is what Gohan is doing in there. But Nahog's just as smart as Gohan is, so he knows perfectly well how to stay out of sight."

"I thought that by now that evil Gohan would have been defeated already…" Goten whined. "This is boooooooring! I want to go and catch bugs or go swim or something!"

"Goten," Krillin's voice immediately shut the whining saiyan up; the monk had always had a gift with kids. "You can't expect this to just be done after a single day or something. This has gone far beyond something that can be repaired with a single fight and we all walk away happily. Nahog… before he even challenged us, he made sure we had little room to maneuver. If we kill and destroy him now, there's no way to prove that Gohan is innocent."

"But he IS!"

"We know he is Goten, but other people don't. And they won't believe Gohan's innocence so easily. Unless we can get Nahog to confess the truth to the world, with other people who are not connected with us to ensure that it's true, Gohan will be considered a criminal."

"But he's not!"

"Goten, you dummy!" Trunks burst out. "Don't you understand no-one else knows about that evil clone and unless we prove it first and make sure that everyone knows he didn't hurt that Videl girl, others will think that he did!"

All of a sudden there was a loud crash from the stairway just outside the living room, as if a wall had just been torn apart by something. Instantly alert – due to being on edge and living in a tense sphere all around the mansion – the warriors jumped forward and immediately assumed their stances. Looking through the hole in the wall, they could barely see Gohan flying out of sight. The warriors had already relaxed, after confirming that it really was Gohan, while Bulma, Chichi and the other non-fighters had barely looked up from seeing the destroyed wall.

"Trunks…" Yamcha started. "I think Gohan heard what you said…"

"For god's sake…" Oolong was shaking with fury. "For thirty-seven years I've kept this mansion in perfect shape, cleaned all around and never had a single malfunction or anything of the sort. You guys live here for two and a half weeks and you've destroyed half of it!"

XxX

"Hey Erasa, how're you holding up?" Videl asked as she paused her running and did some shadowing. Next to her, Sharpener did the same, practicing his boxing once again. Erasa was some distance behind them, breathing far heavier then her two friends and already covered in a fine layer of sweat. Despite the training the blond girl did to keep in shape, she was no professional athlete. Videl was a world-level martial artist while Sharpener had started a career as a professional boxer, so they both performed intense training every day.

"How on earth do you guys keep up that speed?" she asked, bending over to try and catch her breath.

"Simple, we actually train everyday." Sharpener grinned tauntingly. "You need to keep in shape Erasa."

"Well excuse me for not working out every day like certain muscle-heads!" Erasa replied, glaring at the male. "Some people actually do some schoolwork you know. Brains over brawn."

"Which means you fail at both," Sharpener immediately replied, causing Erasa to kick out at him. "'cause you don't have brains or brawn."

"Speaking of schoolwork, don't you need to keep up or something?" Videl asked, stopping her shadowing for a minute. "I mean, you're always over at my dad's gym these days to train and work out. And besides that you still have to do your job, don't you get into trouble with your schoolwork?"

"Nah I'm cool." Sharpener said. "I've got most of the schoolwork for the rest of the year done already."

"For real? How? You never worked ahead with schoolwork before."

"Well… it's not really important." Sharpener quickly said, resuming his shadowing to avoid looking the girls in the eyes.

'_Watch your mouth now, Sharpy.'_ He told himself. _'Avoid any mention of Gohan, who knows how either of them will react to it? They're both still really hurt.'_

"He already did most of the work with Gohan." Erasa suddenly said, before clasping her hands over her mouth, realizing what she just said.

At once Videl's face darkened, her hands clenched and curved into fists. Her entire body became rigid with tension at the mere mention of Gohan's name.

"Shut up." She suddenly ordered. "Don't ever mention that sick fuck's name again. I don't want to hear anything about that goddamn son of a bitch ever again! I… I hate that… that… that asshole!"

With that, Videl turned around and ran away in a mad dash, leaving her blond friends dumbstruck and unable to respond.

Unknown to any of the three teenagers, the tree a little behind them shook as Gohan shot out of it, a dark glare and scowl on his face as he ascended to the higher levels of the atmosphere faster then any man-made machine could detect.

Erasa, meanwhile, had crashed to her knees on the ground, still hurt from her own abusive encounter and Videl's violent reaction. The raven-haired girl had never shouted at her two best friends like that before in the fifteen years they had known each other.

Kneeling, Sharpener placed one arm over Erasa's shoulder to comfort her. He'd never been too good with words, but he was always willing to lend an ear or shoulder to his friends if they should ever need it. Erasa buried her face in Sharpener's shoulder and for a few minutes shook with tears.

Finally, she pulled herself away from Sharpener, gave him a weak, watery smile and then stood up again. Sharpener followed her example, staying close to her to provide any comfort she'd need.

"Videl really was in love with him wasn't she?" Erasa suddenly asked. Sharpener didn't even need to ask what she meant.

"Yeah, she was. It showed in everything she did."

"And it's why she's this angry. She can't get over him at all."

XxX

"Are you doing well?" the smooth voice of the representative sounded from the doorway as Nahog was bent over his computer, keeping progress of the clones – his new family – as they grew. Turning around, the half-saiyan looked the speaker in the face.

The mob representative was almost a foot shorter then he was, more blubber then muscle and with a mound of greased orange-red hair but he still held a knowing and smug look as he looked at Nahog.

"I'm doing excellent thank you very much." He replied, returning the courtesy. Without an invitation, the representative walked further into the lab, observing what was going on.

"I'm glad to hear that, Nahog." He said, not sounding sincere at all. "However, as you have no doubt guessed, I am here for more then mere pleasantries."

"I thought so. What is it?" despite his annoyance, Nahog stayed as friendly as he could. He may have been able to kill this man and destroy the body so fast no-one would ever notice anything, but he held other kinds of power. If he gave a negative report, his boss – the mob leader that took Nahog in and kept his secret – might just withdraw his support. Right now, Nahog needed that support.

"My superiors are patient, as you know, but even he cannot ignore the fact that for the past two weeks you have not given any results at all. You made an impressive start with your services, but still your goals are not completed."

"I've told you, my plans take some time and I've already completed part of them. You must exercise some patients before I can continue."

"So you keep telling us, but our patience is running thin. We'll admit that your first attempt was highly successful, just as you predicted, but there's no denying that Videl is already recovering as is Hercule. No more mind games Nahog, we want bodies this time. Remember, you must uphold your part of the deal or we might just decide to take away our support."

"I know that!" Nahog barked, losing his temper now. "I remember the deal that was made perfectly well. I was the one who decided on the conditions! I was merely waiting for things to calm down before I would strike. The blow is that much harder when everyone suspects that it isn't coming." A dark, creepy smile snuck on Nahog's face as he spoke. "Tell your boss that he'll see some more results before the end of the month, I need to make some time to prepare and let things cool down. But after I give the results you ask for, you leave me in peace for a month so I can finish up my own plans."

"Are you sure you can do that?"

"Of course; just watch the news and you'll see."

XxX

Standing in the back of Oolong's sizable garden Gohan was, as he had been doing for days on end now, shadowing. The once beautiful and well-kept garden, complete with a small stream and flowerbeds, was now reduced to a completely destroyed wasteland, almost twenty feet deep due to the bursts of power Gohan had released. Oolong had, of course, complained at first when Gohan had damaged his garden, but the demi-saiyan was now completely beyond reason. He had even threatened the pig – who had always been a friendly if sometimes annoying person during Gohan's life – if he interfered with his training one more time.

When Goten and Trunks had dared to close up on him, Trunks had been so scared of Gohan that he had actually turned around and fled the scene. His ordeal with Nahog was still fresh on the youngster's mind, even though three weeks had already gone by.

Knowing all this, Piccolo was floating just outside of Gohan's training area. He didn't even try to get close yet, because he knew that his former pupil was now completely focused on his movements and wouldn't stop just yet, no matter who entered into the danger zone.

His determination scared and impressed Piccolo at the same time.

He had always known Gohan to be a strong and determined boy – there was no way he would have done all the things he had done otherwise – but this kind of determination was different. Before, he was kind and determined to do whatever he could for his friends. He always did what he could to help others. Now he trained for a different purpose.

To kill Nahog.

It was so different from normal, with Gohan so focused on that one goal, that it worried the Namek. It reminded him of many others who had held the same kind of determination. The ones with that determination had all, without example, been enemies at one point. But now, only Tien, Vegeta and Piccolo himself were alive. And the only reason they were alive now was because they had changed their goals. They where no longer determined to kill a certain someone, they had changed their lives for the better. And now Gohan was going through the exact opposite change.

Finally, after almost two days of non-stop shadowing, Gohan stopped his movements. The Namek immediately moved to his side, looming over his old pupil. Gohan had grown much in the years, standing taller then even his father, but he still only barely reached Piccolo's shoulders.

"What'd you want?" Gohan asked, his voice tired from training. Piccolo didn't miss the sudden rudeness where Gohan had before always been polite.

"We need to talk." The green man started, uncrossing his arms.

"No we don't." Gohan phased out, moving towards the kitchen. Piccolo was right behind him, appearing in front of the refrigerator to stop Gohan from eating.

"Yes we do. This isn't normal anymore Gohan." This time the demi-saiyan didn't say anything, only glaring at his mentor and allowing him to continue. "You've been training for days on end now without any sleep whatsoever. You've hardly talked and when you have it was short, rude and unlike you. This has to stop, you're losing yourself."

"You're right." Gohan agreed. "This does have to stop. And the only way we're stopping it is by killing Nahog! Now get out of my way so I can eat."

"I will not move until you return to some of your senses!" Piccolo barked back, instinctively raising his power level. As long as Gohan didn't transform into a Super Saiyan the Namek could defeat him, especially now that the young warrior was exhausted from training. "No good will come of this if you continue on like this, you'll only lose yourself and become like an animal. Before long you'll only care about one thing and nothing else. You won't care about how you reach it, until one day you're as evil as the one you're fighting! Stop this now Gohan."

Gohan didn't speak for a few seconds, instead turning around and pulling a carton of orange juice from one of the many cabinets and draining it in one go.

"Maybe you're right." He finally said as he crushed the carton with one hand, his back still turned towards Piccolo. "But Saiyans fight like animals anyway, so the closer to an animal I am; the stronger I'll be in a fight. If I become an animal, I'll be more of a saiyan. My human side will be suppressed so I'll be that much stronger."

Not waiting for a reply, Gohan immediately phased out, leaving a disturbed Piccolo behind.

XxX

-Priiing- - Priiing-

As soon as the sound erupted from his pocket, Nahog pulled out his phone and opened it. He didn't have to look who it was; only one person had this number.

"It's me." He said. "I'm about to go in, what'd you want?"

"I wanted to wish you some good luck." The smooth voice on the other end of the line said. "Today is, after all, the deadline that you yourself made. The end of the month. If I had to wait much longer I would have cut your funding."

Now that was something he couldn't have. A month had already gone by since he had made himself known to Gohan, a month in which he had done much to secure his future. The first clone was halfway done, already in the form of a youngster, but needed to grow a lot. The other clones were in their toddler-phase right now. He couldn't lose them now.

"Yeah I know." He said; his voice perfectly even. "I needed a bit of time to study the security of this place and the habits of the inhabitants. If you want maximum effect, that's basic knowledge. The effect is kind of gone when the entire city wakes up from the alarm."

"I understand Nahog. Now please carry on. And remember what I said: after tonight I never want to have any problems with any of them ever again, understand?"

"Got it, don't worry." With that he snapped his phone shut and looked around. With his speed it had been easy enough to approach this area, despite the heavy police activity. Everyone in the world knew Gohan's face – and by extension his own – and where wary of meeting with the infamous terrorist so Nahog had to stay out of sight. He couldn't use a panic, not yet. He needed people to panic after he was done.

So he stayed inside the dark alley he was standing in, straight across from his target. He wore his usual white suit and black shirt, as comfortable and fashionable as it was practical.

Finally, just as he it had happened every night, the large metal fence opened and a car drove out. The fence closed right behind the vehicle. This particular target wouldn't be back for another couple of hours at least. Just to be on the safe side, Nahog waited in the alleyway for ten more minutes and then, faster then anyone could see, he ran over to the fence, jumped over it and landed on the other side. The two-and-a-half mile driveway was crossed in a matter of seconds. He could have easily flown here as well, but there was a certain sense of excitement by performing the sneaking acts of a burglar.

Aside form that, there was a chance that Gohan or any of the Z fighters could sense the energy he would release from his body and locate him. Nahog didn't know for sure, but he couldn't take the risk. Right now, caution was still of the essence.

"Shame I can't sense energy myself." He muttered as he pushed against the door. Against his inhumane power the entire door exploded inward. "I'd already know whether they can sense my energy or not. And I'd know where the buffoon is hiding… can't have it all I guess. Time for the most fun part of hide-and-seek: the seeking."

His hands deep in his pockets and humming a little theme to himself, Nahog entered through the former location of the door and proceeded to the gym.

He had already familiarized himself with the layout of Satan Manor and his new target: Hercule Satan. Today, the world's biggest and most beloved liar would die. And there was nothing anyone could do to stop him.

XxX

"Ah man, I can't believe I forgot that Daniels wasn't there tonight!" Videl exclaimed as she drove back home. After a twenty minute ride, she had arrived at prep school, only to find that her teacher wasn't there. He had given the class a night off because he had to attend a funeral and couldn't find a replacement to take his place. But Videl had forgotten that and still drove there. Once she had heard that the class had been canceled, she immediately got back in her car and drove back home, feeling like an idiot the whole time.

Finally turning the last corner, Satan Mansion came into view. The sight of the large metal gates – each easily 13 feet high – usually made her feel a bit at ease, however much she disliked the unfriendly-looking things.

But tonight, they filled her with a sense of dread.

"What's going on?" Videl questioned herself as she drove up to the gates. "I'm having the chills…" ignoring her bad feeling for now, she pressed the button on the communicator and waited for someone to answer it. After waiting for five minutes, there was still no response from anyone.

"And, of course, I forgot the remote for the fence today…" Videl cursed as she killed the engine of her car and stepped out. Along with her own bad feeling, the fact that no-one entered the intercom ensured Videl that something was wrong.

"Well… this thing isn't going to get any shorter, let's get it over with…" Placing her car keys in her backpack, she squeezed the pack through the fence before taking a few steps back. The first five or six feet of the fence provided no hold whatsoever, but above that it became far more artistic in it's appearance and had plenty of places for Videl to climb on.

"I hate it when I have to do this…" She confided in herself before dashing towards the fence in full force. Once she was near it, she pushed off with one foot and jumped as high as she could. Still using the momentum and temporarily reduced friction on her body, she quickly and wildly climbed up the fence until she reached a good hold with her hands. From there it was an easy task to pull herself up and climb to the top of the fence.

"Ok, flip over the fence, no biggie Videl. Just don't look down…" keeping one eye closed so she couldn't look down Videl swung one leg over the fence and then the other before proceeding to climb down. Again, she was forced to stop at six feet off the ground for lack of a grip. Instead she pulled her legs up and placed her feet against the fence so she could push off. In a single fluid motion, she let go of the fence, pushed off and flipped in the air so she landed on her feet perfectly. Even then, she still had to roll to her side to prevent damaging her knees.

"Ok, hard part over with…" Videl said as she picked up her backpack, panting.

At that moment, a huge wave of force suddenly erupted from the mansion, shattering all the windows, activating twenty or so car alarms and smashing Videl into the gate just behind her.

"What the fuck was that!?" Videl cursed as she pulled herself back up. Ignoring the intense pain that was coursing through her body thanks to the rough collision with a couple hundred kilograms of solid metal, Videl immediately rushed to her home.

* * *

As always much thanks to my beta Kushin ex for going over this chapter for me. I hope you enjoyed it. please leave a review telling me what you think.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Don't own DBZ or anything related to it.

Import note: This is a link to the enquiry for my research I told everyone about last chapter.

http:(slash)(slash)www(dot)studentenenquete(dot)nl(slash)vragen(slash)index(dot)php?sid=49199&lang=en

to follow it, copy it into your webbrowser and replace the things in the parenthesis with the normal sign. So (dot) = . I'd like to ask you all to fill it in, it should take about 15 minutes. Thanks in advance for filling it out everyone.

WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS EXTREME VIOLENCE AND BRUTAL DEATHS! READ AT OWN DISCRESSION!

* * *

"I have to admit that Hercule does have good taste." Nahog said to himself, admiring the paintings on the walls as he scrolled through the Satan Mansion. After sneaking into the building, Nahog had proceeded to walk towards the gym, where he was sure to find Hercule at this time of night. However, he was in no rush. There was nothing that could be done to stop him anyway and he enjoyed looking at some of the artworks that Hercule had gathered over the years. When Videl had invited him in he hadn't had the chance to look at them properly, so he was taking the chance now.

"Hey, what'd you think you-" a security guard ran down the hallway, from the direction that Nahog had come, but he stopped fifty or so feet away from the black-haired youth. Only now did he recognize him and the realization paralyzed him with fear. A second later he had overcome his fear and pulled out his gun, aiming it at Nahog with shaking hands.

"You're him!" he shouted, "You're the guy that they're looking for! The one that harmed Videl and all those other girls!"

Nahog took a good look at the man. He wasn't young – most likely in his mid forties – and there where a couple streaks of grey showing in his dark-brown hair.

"Yeah, that's me." Nahog casually said, pulling his hands out of his pocket. "What's it to you? Was one of those girls your daughter?"

"No, I don't have a daughter." The man said, obviously trying to buy some time. "But I've got a son." As he remembered his family, the man's hand steadied a bit.

"Too bad," Nahog said. To the guard's eyes he was still standing in front of him, but the voice sounded from behind him. Turning around, the guard suddenly saw the teenager standing behind him. Before he could react, Nahog had grabbed his arm and twisted it around. The gun fell from the limp hand as the bones were twisted so far they shattered. Before the guard could scream in pain, Nahog had clamped his other hand over the man's mouth, silencing him.

"Now I recognize you!" Nahog's tone was light, almost as if he was simply greeting an old friend. "You're the guard who was working here last time I came around. That's twice now that you've failed at your job. I hope you have life insurance, because your son is going to need some help."

With a single movement from his hand, Nahog twisted the man's head so hard that flew away, his body following behind it, trying to keep up with the rotations that the head was making. After crashing into a wall, the man's body fell to the ground, his severely broken neck allowing his head to double-up against his chest. A few drops of blood fell from the man's mouth, but after that there was nothing.

"Ok, on with more important matters." Nahog said, looking himself over to make sure that his clothes were still clean. Confirming that, he resumed his casual stroll towards the gym.

After another five minutes of walking, taking his time and even going to a bathroom he found along the way, Nahog had finally found the gym. Staying out of sight, the half-saiyan looked inside to see how things were.

Hercule stood in the center of the gym, in the middle of a sparring area, facing four opponents. Off on one side six others where busy going through stances with various weapons, while on the other side five other people where doing some weightlifting and other exercises. The mark on their clothing marked each one of them a top student of Hercule's school of martial arts.

'_Just as I thought__; __Today is special training day._' As Nahog realized that his plan was working perfectly, a grin spread across his face. '_Hercule and his finest students training with each __other, just __as I had hoped. This'll be a piece of cake._'

As Nahog was watching, Hercule moved as fast as a human body without energy-boosting could move. He dashed past the first two students, barely dodging their attacks, and focused his attention on the one most separated from the group. A barrage of vicious but well-aimed attacks quickly knocked him out of the ring. A spin kick caught another student as he jumped in the air and also sent him flying out of the ring. Within two minutes, the last two students were also thrown out of the ring, ending the match in Hercule's favor.

-clap- -clap- -clap-

As Nahog walked out of the shadow and into the gym, he was gave Hercule a mock applause, slowly walking forward and looking at the look on each fighter's face as they realized who it was.

All fifteen students looked at him in mixed awe, terror, anger and hatred. Hercule alone looked at the young man before him and immediately assumed a look of hatred. Nahog stopped halfway towards Hercule, letting his hands fall to his side again as he looked directly at Hercule. At the sudden lack of clapping, there was absolute silence.

"You are more stupid then I would have thought." Hercule finally said; his tone laced with poison and hatred. "Not only do you hurt my daughter and her friends, you now walk into my gym while I'm here with my best students." Hercule shifted into a fighting stance, and this seemed to break the others out of their shock. At once they shot out into movements. The four students who Hercule had defeated stood in front of the champ, all taking a fighting stance to protect and aid their master. The weapon-users quickly turned around and also assumed their stances. On the other side, the people who had been doing power training moved to a wall and also pulled of various weapons and readied themselves.

"Coming here tonight will be the last thing you ever do. I'll kill you myself for what you did."

"Bring it." was all Nahog said.

As one, the eleven armed students charged forward to attack the black-haired youth. Nahog's face broke out in a grin as he got ready for them.

XxX

At the same time as Nahog's entry into the Satan Mansion, two men were meeting. Both wore suits, but one – the leader of the organization's – was much more expensive then the other. As the leader placed the phone back in the holder, after having just called Nahog to ensure that he would attack Hercule, the representative took a zip of his scotch.

"So, what is it that has bothered you so much that you request a meeting with me this late at night?" the leader asked as he sat down and also took a zip of the strong drink. "Normally you don't sound so worried David, what's wrong?"

The orange-haired representative took a few seconds to choose his words before he spoke up.

"Well sir, it's about Nahog." He started. "I'm worried about what sort of problems he can cause for us. He's a loose cannon, only doing what he wants and when he wants it."

"This alone wouldn't be enough for you to request an emergency meeting. Carry on."

"Well sir, he's obsessed with that experiment he's making. He doesn't care about anyone or anything that gets in his way. If they're needed for his experiment he takes it and destroys anything that stands in his way. Look at how he acted up until now."

"Explain."

"You ordered him to ensure Videl's defeat – and I must admit that he has certainly succeeded in doing that, the girl hardly appears to aid the police lately – but his methods where too cruel. Before he even started working on Videl, he raped over fifteen other young woman, with no reason whatsoever. Most of them didn't even have a connection to Videl!"

"Yes, you're right of course." The leader agreed. "However, we must remember that while Nahog is doing what we order of him, he is also working on killing his brother. Perhaps those rapes had some purpose to that…"

"No, I've been checking up on the background of this Gohan who he wants to kill. The only thing that links him to all those girls is that they where his classmates. But even so, look at how he went about the destruction of Capsule Corps. He killed hundreds of people without a flinch. Or when he suddenly and without giving a real reason started a fight near West City. They destroyed part of the highway and Nahog never once explained why he did so."

For a few seconds, silence reigned over the table. David was nervously rubbing his head, messing his red hair before straightening it out again. On the other side of the table, the leader of the crime organization simply took another zip of his drink.

"Sir," David started, not being able to take the silence any longer. "I know that you've found him and he is no doubt a valuable asset – he has destroyed the confidence in the Satan Family and arranged for us to earn several hundred million without a problem – but we cannot ignore the danger that he represents."

"Yes…" the leader said, still lost in thought. "Yes David, you're right, Nahog can be unpredictable. However, for the moment his skills and abilities are in our service, but we cannot allow him to become too free. As long as his experiment remains, he is in our service, but we must find a way to keep him so afterwards."

"But sir…"

"And should he prove to still remain so reckless, we will have to find a way to deal with him before long. I cannot and will not endanger our entire cause to one madman. If he goes too far, we eliminate him, but for now we rely on his ability to deal with the Satans and inspire fear and distrust among the people. Are we agreed?"

"Yes, sir of course," David quickly said before he got up and turned to leave. "Thank you for your time today, Mr. Church."

"Always a pleasure David." As soon as the orange-haired representative for Satan City had left, Church stood up and strolled over to his window.

'_I wonder how Hercule is doing right now. I certainly wouldn't want to be him right now._'

XxX

Nahog hadn't even moved as the eleven students closed in and attacked him. Instead, he simply stood there, appearing without a guard to deal with the onslaught of weapons. In the last second before they could strike him, he pulled up his arms and acted.

The first weapon to reach him was a sickle-blade attached to a chain. Nahog caught the chain and pulled on it. The user – unable to match the Saiyan's far superior physical strength – was sent flying towards Nahog, while he used the chain to block a Nunchuck's strike before swinging it around a Chinese-style sword.

Next came a staff, but Nahog simply caught it with one hand and swung around, smashing either the weapon itself or it's user into the other students. Combined with the kusari-gama user flying into three others, only one student remained. A man of ordinary height who held two swords.

Now standing in close range, the sword-wielder slashed out at Nahog as fast as he could. Unfortunately, his top speed was still as slow as a snail compared to Nahog. The clone caught his arms, twisted them around and stabbed the man with his own weapons. One sword went straight into his stomach; the other was twisted around to pierce from above into his shoulder and then his heart.

"Coming through!" Nahog taunted, pushing the swords through some more before releasing them.

The man dropped dead to the ground before he even had time to look surprised or pained by the turnaround.

A second student had recovered and – having moved before Nahog had killed his friend – also attacked. Using one tonfa on each arm, he jumped up to attack Nahog from above. The spiky-haired fighter simply looked up, caught one of the tonfa-user's legs and smashed him into the ground face-first. As the man was stunned from the impact, Nahog raised his foot and – slowly so everyone could clearly see – smashed his feet into the back of his head. The force behind the stomp was so great that the entire skull collapsed. Without any other direction to go, the blood, brain and bones shot out of the head, exploding outward.

"Oops, looks like someone's got a splitting headache!" Nahog grinned.

The pieces of gore shot out so far that even the walls were covered in red, and most of the students had been covered by some of it as well. The result of two quick deaths, one of them so messy and disgusting, had stunned most students. Nahog's evil and intimidating grin wasn't helping.

"Well, if you're not coming to me, I'll just come on over to you!"

Before they could react, Nahog had already run towards his next target: the staff-wielding student, who Nahog now saw was female. Before she could react, Nahog had closed in on her, kicked the student next to her into a wall – causing a sickening crack to be heard as the man's spine was broken – and grabbed her staff out of her hands. Seeing the cold-blooded killer right in front of her, she backed off in instinctive fear.

"Now, now;" Nahog said as he pulled the staff out of her hands. "A woman using a long wooden staff, this is just asking for a cruel joke." Without further warning, he spun the weapon around and hit the woman in the chest, sending her flying backwards, landing next to the student Nahog had smashed into a wall seconds earlier.

A second later, the spiky-haired teenager was looming over the two, still holding the staff in one hand.

"You know, if you're using a large wooden staff like this…" He started, spinning the weapon around so a tip was hovering right over her stomach. "You must be really wanting something…" he lowered the tip a little, pointing it lower. The terrified look on the woman's face intensified tenfold, sensing his intentions.

"But doing that would be too much of a waste…" he raised the tip again, pointing it at her stomach. "But I still think that all you really care about…" he raised the tip even further, placing it in between the woman's breasts, "Is a good, deep…" he placed the tip in between them, stopping the woman's chest from shaking with her sobs and shallow breathing.

"Penetration."

With a single, solid motion, Nahog thrust the weapon forward, smashing it straight through the woman's chest, crushing bone, lungs, spine and other tissues. Despite the lack of any sharp or pointy ends on the staff – since it was a weapon for smashing rather then stabbing or slashing – it smashed right through the body and ended up two feet deep in the wall behind the woman.

This extreme show of brutality seemed to shock the others out of their fear, because the four students who stood next to Hercule seemed to revive and attacked Nahog all together, shouting war cries.

Nahog took three steps towards them and then attacked. The first fighter to reach him and tried to punch. Nahog returned the motion, smashing his fist into his opponent's. The resulting crash of bone and flesh was heard throughout the entire room; all the bones in the man's arm were reduced to nothing but dust, spreading throughout the remains of the arm, drastically reducing the length of the arm but thickening it to unnatural proportions. The man dropped to the ground behind Nahog, screaming in pain.

The second fighter received a kick to the knee, destroying the joint and sending the leg bending in the opposite direction from natural. The third victim got a punch to the elbow, also resulting in a destroyed joint and a scream of pain. Before the fourth fighter reached him, Nahog span around and elbowed both opponents in the back. His attacks carried so much force that the ribs were shattered; one of them even had a piece of bone pierce the skin, with blood flowing out of the wound.

The fourth and last fighter who had charged at Nahog; having seen what he did to his three comrades, tried to stop his dash but was too late. Reaching the supreme killing machine up close, Nahog grabbed one arm and twisted him around before grabbing the other one as well, forcing the man to his knees.

"How nice, are you offering to give me a hand?"

With a twist of his arms, Nahog broke the man's arms, causing a fourth pair of screams to sound in the gym as the man crashed to the ground.

"Anyone else?"

The remaining six students all recovered a bit, turning white at what Nahog had done, but when Hercule yelling at them seemed to shake them awake.

"Attack him all at once!" the champ yelled. "We'll get him if we work together!"

At once all six warriors overcame their fear and dashed forward, but Hercule was so far behind that the six were already on Nahog before he was even close.

"Time to give you guys flying lessons! KIYAAH!" Nahog exclaimed as he released a wave of energy from his body. The wave was strong enough to send all other fighters flying backward, into either a wall or some other object that was behind them. From the entire mansion there was the sound of shattering glass and china, and a second later car alarms from outside started sounding.

Looking over, Nahog saw that by now the majority of the students where dead. Most of them had flown into a wall, causing deep cracks to appear as blood leaked from their mouth, nose or cracks in their skulls. One had been unlucky enough to crash straight into a bench press and had the metal rod pierce right through his abdomen. Only the four who had attacked him without weapons were still alive, although they were moaning in pain, helpless to fight him.

Seeing that there were no other obstacles, Nahog slowly, tauntingly stepped forward towards Hercule. By now his white clothes had been painted red with blood, bone and gore, but the mad killer didn't so much as give a hint of displeasure as he stepped closer to the fallen champion.

The shockwave had hit Hercule too, but he was relatively unhurt; he had been smashed into a wall and would be bruised, but had no other injuries to show from the hit.

When he stood next to the champ, Nahog kneeled down, looking at the fallen warrior, and grinned as evilly as he could.

XxX

'_Please let me be on time!_' Videl thought as she raced through the halls of her home faster then she had thought possible. As soon as she had recovered from the shockwave that had smashed her into the gates and smashed all the glass, she had started running to the gym. She didn't know why, but she could just feel that the explosion had originated from there.

'_Please let dad and the others be all right!_' As she rounded a corner, cursing the mansion for being so damn large, Videl let out a cry of surprise. The security agent – a nice middle-aged man who Videl had always liked and had a family of his own – lay against the wall, slumped down in an unnatural position. The wall above him was dirtied with blood, but that wasn't what caught Videl's attention.

It was the impossible angle at which the man's head hung from the neck. Obviously his neck had been broken to a degree far worse then anything Videl had ever seen. The sight made her sick, but she could barely contain herself from throwing up then and there.

All of a sudden there came a lout scream of agonizing pain from deeper in the mansion, straight in the direction of the gym. The scream made the girl shiver all over, terrifying her into her very bones. Yet at the same time it seemed to shock her back awake, because a second later she had recovered.

"Dad!"

At once Videl resumed running towards the gym, praying to whoever would listen and hoping beyond hope that her father would be all right, that he would still be alive when she got there.

XxX

Hercule could do nothing but look up in horror as Nahog closed in on him, one tauntingly slow step after the other. It couldn't have been clearer that he was enjoying the look of terror on the face of the World Champion. Hercule's arms and legs were bruised so badly by that sudden shockwave he could hardly lift them to protect himself.

Finally, the dark-haired, evil-grinning teenager was looming over the champ. Looking Hercule straight in the eye, Nahog pulled back his fist and held it drawn back.

"Are you scared right now?" Nahog asked, his eyes never leaving Hercule's. "Are you still as brave as you claim to be? Or is the coward that you really are emerging right now?"

Before Hercule could do anything, another voice sounded up from behind the gore-covered killer.

"You'll… never… get away… with this." The strained voice of one of the remaining students sounded.

Turning around, Nahog's eyes scanned over the crowd of bodies, before identifying the one who spoke up; it was the student who had clashed fists with Nahog, reducing his arm to nothing. Nahog turned around and stood over him as the student tried to get back up, pushing himself up with his remaining arm.

"Oh really?" Nahog asked, looking down at him with his hands in his pockets. "Who's going to stop me? You?"

"You'll… get what's coming… to you… eventually."

In response, Nahog suddenly slammed his foot into the man's shin, smashing it with such power that the remains of the leg were completely severed. The man screamed out in pain as blood shot forth from the injury. Nahog lifted up the severed limb with one hand, looking mildly interested at the pieces of bone that were still visible as the blood dripped out. The next second, Nahog stepped forward and slammed the limb shoe-first into the man's mouth as he continued to scream.

"Oh put a foot in it." Nahog laughed as the cries of pain where silenced. "Or was it a sock? I always switch those two around. Doesn't matter, they're both in now!"

"NO!" Another voice yelled, from behind him. This was a voice that the half-breed Saiyan instantly recognized, even without turning around. The voice of a female. A young, black-haired, talented and beautiful woman.

"Hello Videl." Nahog said as he turned around to look at the raven girl. "I didn't expect you to show up so soon."

She didn't respond, locked in total shock at the scene before her. All of the people who lay on the ground, or pinned up to the walls, were all people who she had known for a long time. People she had spoken to, trained with, fought against and most of them had even been fighters superior to her. And now they all lay on the ground, dead and humiliated beyond anything Videl had ever seen.

"Now, please wait while I take care of some other things first." Nahog said, turning around to face the three other survivors. Two of them were stirring again, clutching their chests since their ribs where broken. They never even got a chance to get up before Nahog loomed over them.

The first one, who had ribs piercing his skin and shown to the world, got a stomp on the chest so hard that the rest of the ribs – along with the sternum – shattered, collapsing his lungs and crushing his heart. As the man died, he vomited a large stream of blood, leaving his mouth filled with blood unable to escape.

While Videl let out another scream of horror, just as Hercule shouted something that Nahog didn't quite hear, he turned around to face the last two surviving students. He picked each of them up by their head, dragging their bodies with them, and held them an arm's length away, standing with his arms raised to his side. As soon as his eyes locked with Hercule's again, Nahog returned to motion, more vicious then anything he had done before.

In one solid movement he moved the two heads towards each other, crashing them into each other with such force that the faces and skulls burst apart, covering Nahog in even more blood and gore, making the image of him even more disgusting.

Blood still dripping from his hands, Nahog continued to walk towards Hercule, as the champ finally recovered himself and got back up. Even so, the champion's legs where shaking with fear. As Nahog closed up on him, Hercule charged forward, his fist raised to strike at Nahog's head. For his part, Nahog didn't even try to defend himself, allowing Hercule to strike him right between the eyes. The punch had no effect whatsoever.

"Nice try. But here's how it's really works."

Holding back the majority of his power, Nahog punched Hercule in the chest. The blow wasn't strong enough to crush bones or kill him, but it sent him crashing into the wall, coughing up a few drops of blood.

Nahog closed in on Hercule, holding him up by the neck and pushing him into the wall.

"No!" Videl yelled from the doorway, finally breaking through her paralyzes of fear. Even so, her fear and helplessness prevented her from actually moving. All she could do was crash to her knees.

"Don't touch him!" she pleaded. "Don't hurt him… don't hurt my father…Please Gohan, don't… don't hurt my father…"

Nahog, still holding Hercule up by the throat, looked over at the girl as she was literally crying on the ground. For a few seconds he looked between father and daughter, seeming to consider something. In that time, Hercule recovered enough breath to yell one more time.

"Videl, get out of here! Don't sit there, run!"

"Don't move!" Nahog yelled instead, increasing his hold over Hercule's throat. Videl looked up, tears streaming down her face, torn with what to do. Suddenly, without any warning, Nahog created an orb of energy in his free hand and blasted it at the wall. At once the wall exploded, disintegrating it into nothing. The explosion almost devoured Hercule as well, but Nahog had chosen his target well. His point was emphasized enough to shock both of the Satans into full awareness.

"Videl… do you want to save your father?"

"Don't listen to him Videl, just get out of here!" Hercule yelled again, but Nahog tightened his hold again, shutting off Hercule's air supply.

"Welll?" He asked, "What will it be?"

"Please… don't hurt him…" Videl begged again, more tears streaming down her face.

"Fine." Nahog said, releasing Hercule so he crashed to the floor gasping for breath. "I'll spare his life, but in exchange…" again a grin spread on his face, "You will follow the orders I give you. Fail to do so and I'll kill your father. Do as I say and you'll both survive this, I give you my word."

"F-Fine." Videl uttered, after looking at her father for a few more seconds.

"Beg." Nahog simply ordered, "Beg for your father's life."

"What?" Videl's tone was of complete surprise at the strange order.

"I warned you." Nahog said, before he raised his foot and slammed it into Hercule's left shoulder. At once the bones in the joint broke, causing Hercule to scream in pain as it was damaged beyond repair.

"No!" Videl yelled, dropping to her hands and feet as her tears intensified. "Please… I beg of you… please spare his life."

"Good." Nahog said with satisfaction as Hercule still howled with pain. "Now… crawl over here like that."

This time Videl didn't hesitate, knowing what would happen to her father if she did. Slowly, she crawled over to the cruel man on all fours, feeling more humiliated then ever before. At last, after having crawled through the blood and bodies of the people who she had known and respected for years, she was right in front of the murderer.

"For God's sake Videl, get the fuck out of here!" Hercule cursed, biting through his pain for a few seconds. His eyes were burning with fire and filled with fear, with the desire to protect his daughter and his own helplessness.

"Shut up." Nahog said as he stomped on Hercule's right foot, breaking even more bones and causing the champ to renew his howls of pain.

"Don't… Don't hurt him!" Videl pleaded, sitting up on her knees.

Nahog looked down at her, lifted his foot up from Hercule and stood right in front of her, smiling down at her. That single creepy smile on his face caused more shivers down her spine. Suddenly he bent forward at the hip until his face was on almost the same height as hers.

"I think you know how you can buy your father's life." He smiled at her as he stood back up and stepped closer, making Videl's nose nearly touch his pants. "Get to work."

* * *

I did warn you guys about lots of gore and brutal deaths, don't say I didn't warn you.

As always, much thanks to my beta Kushin eX for helping picking out mistakes in this chapter.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: don't own nothing but my laptop. DBZ and everything that falls under it belong to someone else.

XXXxxxXXXxxx

"My god…" the younger officer said as he gazed upon the scene for the first time.

"Puke bucket is over in the corner." His senior colleague, a cigarette in her mouth, pointed.

It was barely past six in the morning and the scene had been given the all-clear for forensics to do their thing. But the bodies, blood and gore where all still there and the smell was thick in the air. The sights in the gym, combined with the smell was enough to make any man puke.

"You ok now?" the senior officer asked when the young colleague returned, moving his sleeve past his mouth to clean up some remains.

"As close to ok as I'm going to be. What the hell happened here…"

"A massacre, that's what." The smoker said, pulling out a new smoke as the old cigarette was about to be burned up. "Sixteen people violently murdered, one severely injured and one young woman sexually assaulted. This piece of shit keeps making things worse on everyone."

"Look, Kai, are you sure you should be here?" The young man asked, looking at his colleague with concern. "Shouldn't you still be at home?"

"Being at home won't change anything." The woman barked back at him, looking over the scene again. "He's still dead and gone and this asshole is responsible for it. And the only thing that's on my mind right now is catching him. That's why the chief set me on the case."

"We're supposed to try and stay neutral when we're working on case, Kai and you know it."

"Yes Reg, and you know damn well that no-one is going to work on this with a neutral mindset, not now that Videl and Hercule where both assaulted like this."

"I know it's hard to do, but you have to put him out of your head while you're working; if you stay pissed off like that whenever you think of what happened at Orange City because of this guy, and what happened to Gary, you'll end up messing things up more then your solving them!"

"Shut up!" Kaikaina bit back, not looking her colleague in the eye. With one deep tug, she finished off another cigarette, tossed it to the ground and immediately lit up a new one. "Bloody hell, it's not even six-thirty, but I've already smoked through half a pack…" she took a few deep inhales, visibly calming down and turning around to face Reginald.

"Sorry about that Reg, I'm kind of short-fused right now. Ready to get down to business?"

"Whenever you are Kai." He said back, stepping over one of the bodies and standing next to her.

"So, let's start at the basics; what do we know?" Kai began, now focusing on her work again, letting her disappeared fiancé drop to the back of her mind.

"Suspect entered the front yard at around half past eight, jumping over the fence with ease. From there he proceeded into the mansion, killing the guard along the way, until he reached the gym." Reginald summed it up from his notebook. "Upon arriving at the gym, he confronts Hercule and fifteen others in direct combat, but defeats them all with visible ease." At least, that's what the officers who had seen the security video had said. Reg hadn't seen it himself yet.

"And while he's busy toying around with these fifteen, Videl reenters the mansion by climbing over the fence as well. Just as she entered, that weird wave happened, bursting glass everywhere and throwing her against the fence." Kai continued, "And when she reached the gym, the fifteen others where already dead, her father was being tortured and she was forced to submit to the will of that asshole or watch her father die, correct?"

"Yeah, that's what the cameras have shown." Reginald said as he stepped over to a body that had been pierced by her own staff. "But there's still plenty of things I'd like to know. How on earth did he do that shockwave? It killed four of these guys and set of car alarms almost two blocks away."

"God damn…" Kaikaina suddenly cursed. "I know this guy. I've seen him on TV a couple of times, when Gary was watching some of those fighting demonstrations." She was standing over the first victim in the gym, a man who had been stabbed with his own swords. "This guy is considered one of the best swordfighters alive, but this guy killed him like it was nothing."

"I'm pretty sure that each of these guys was world-level." Regi added as he walked around some more. "They where Hercule's strongest students, able to fight against him almost evenly. At least, that's what the guy who brought me here said."

"Did he say anything about Hercule's status? Or Videl's?"

"They're both still in the hospital. Hercule's still in the OR, he has a team of the best surgeons in the country working on him. Videl's physically unharmed, but there's no telling how badly she might take all of this. I can only imagine how it must have been for her."

"How do you think the public will react?"

"With Hercule's beaten up this badly by a homicidal maniac? I'd be surprised if there wasn't a massive outbreak of fear." By now Regi had crouched down near a quartet of bodies; these had been the brave souls who had attacked the black-haired youth when their friends had been killed already, but where easily blown aside by that shockwave. From what he could see, their chests had been crushed by the wave. "I'm willing to bet money on it that Hercule's fighting days are permanently over now."

"You're probably right, but can you blame them?" Kai agreed, now standing near a pair of bodies, remnants of their head still attached to their neck. These two had been the last ones that had been killed, their two heads smashed together with enough force to make them explode. Kai looked up, seeing clear blue sky through the huge hole in the wall.

"How do you suppose he did this?" She asked, lighting up yet another cigarette.

"Well, I would say that it was some sort of bomb or something." Regi said, also walking over. "But there are no remains of any sort of explosive or anything. What're you thinking?"

"The video showed that he created a ball of light in his hand, the same as the magic tricks that the fighters from the Cell Games used. But I'm beginning to think it's not a magic trick at all."

"A connection? Maybe this Gohan kid is connected to the Cell Games somehow."

"It's possible." Kai was by now lost in thought. Suddenly she let out a deep sigh, walking through the hole in the wall straight into the garden. Regi was quick to follow her, eager to leave the stench and disgusting sights behind him. "You know, I'm beginning to really get worried about something."

"What's that?"

"This isn't the first time that I've seen a madman work for the mob. They hire them from time to time to do jobs that no sane man will take. But the nice thing about the mob is, they often take care of their own trash. If someone who works for them goes to far, he's often dead by the end of the week, courtesy of the mob. Did I ever tell you about this bunch of crazy teens who where hired by the mob, about twelve years ago?"

"No, but what's that got to do with this?" Although he was curious, because Kaikaina had been working for the Force almost twice as long as he had been and was always willing to share tales of her experiences, he didn't really see the point.

"About twelve years ago, we got to the scene of one of the most brutal murders I've ever seen. not half as bad as this, but still much worse then most scenes. Seven dead, three females and four males. The man had been tortured for no good reason, while the woman had all been raped repeatedly, before they where all of them killed in a slow, painful method. During the investigation, we got on the trail of a group of high-school kids who had started working for the mob. Thought it'd be cool to kill someone. They where dead three weeks after the killings, taken care of by the mob."

"And that's a good thing?"

"There where less killers and rapists around, which I consider a good thing. The mob doesn't like madmen to work for them. You can't rely on a madman, so you can't trust them. They're needed every now and then, but once they've had their uses, the mob finishes them off. But I doubt it's possible with this guy."

"Why not?"

"Because with the physical ability he showed when killing all those fighters in there," she jerked her finger over her shoulder to point back into the gym, "I'm willing to assume he can evade or block bullets. He beat Hercule without a problem, so there will not be a lot of fighters who can deal with him. And based on his report cards and how he moved so far, I'm willing to bet that this guy is a very, very smart madman. One not even the mob can take care off."

XxX

"Trunks, are you alright?" Bulma asked, as Trunks was shaking badly next to her. he had curled up by instinct, making himself as small as he could, and snuggled up to his mother; something he would never do normally, because he was far too old to do that now.

Of course, Trunks had good reason to be scared, even when he was sitting outside with most of the others. They had all been outside for the better part of four hours now, not even caring about the cold, with Krillin, Yamcha, Tien and #18 standing in front, keeping an eye on the mansion.

Four hours ago, as Bulma, Krillin and some of the others where watching the news, there had been an announcement; Hercule Satan, along with his daughter and fifteen of his best students, had been attacked last night. And although there where no official statements yet made by the police, they had announced that Hercule was still undergoing surgery, but that it appeared his condition had been stabilized. Videl had been reported to be mostly unharmed. Of course, they couldn't make a public statement about the suspects without a police report, but they all knew what it meant.

There where a few people on the planet stronger then Hercule, but the only ones who could take on him, fifteen of his students and Videl where gathered at Oolong's mansion. And since they had all been home last night, it was easy to guess who had attacked.

The fact that Nahog had made a move that none of them had anticipated, thinking him content to wait until his clones where ready, had shocked them all. But because Nahog had once again attacked Videl and Hercule, of all people, had hit Gohan harder then anything else could have. For the past four hours, the young warrior had been marching through Oolong's house, scarring anyone who got in his way by his sheer facial expression.

Only Vegeta and Piccolo had remained inside the house, knowing they where the only ones who could restrain Gohan should something go wrong. So far, there had been no hint of a battle; Gohan was simply marching from one room to another, no-one knowing what went through his mind exactly as he wore a look that left no question what he was planning.

No matter the cost, Gohan would kill Nahog. Even if it meant being killed in the process.

XxX

"Ah, Nahog I would like a moment of your time." David said as he walked into the lab. Nahog, for his part, was bent over a computer and was rapidly entering commands into the system, not even responding to the orange-haired man.

"Nahog?" He enquired further, but still the black-haired youth didn't respond. "Answer me, boy!" He forcibly turned Nahog's chair around, forcing the scientist to look at him.

"What'd you want?"

"I am here to talk with you about your actions last night."

"Can you come back in an hour or four?" Nahog replied, not looking even slightly interested. "I'm busy right now."

"You will listen to me right now, or before the end of the day your funds will be stopped and your lab destroyed!" David yelled in rage. This apparently got to Nahog, because he suddenly stopped typing, turned around and raised himself to his full length, looking down at the stocky man with a look promising nothing short of pain and death.

"Aah, I see that got your attention." David said, falling back into his usual calm and controlled manner. "Now, I would like to discuss your actions last night."

"What about them? And make this quick, I've got to finish this up."

"No, you will take your time and listen to me. And if you care much for your funding, I'd suggest you take a different tone with me right now. I may not be as strong or fast as you, but I have considerably more influence then you do."

"Well fine, what do you want." Taking to his point, Nahog stood up and started leading them to a separate room.

"I'm here on behalf of Mr. Church. Both he and I would like to have a say about how you handled things last night."

"And what was it you wanted to say about it?"

"That we're not very pleased with how you worked." David rudely said, sitting down in the best chair. "The methods you used where extremely violent and far more then you needed to do. You act like a madman gone wild, Nahog, and I assure you that we have no place nor need for anyone like that in our organization."

"I still don't see what your problem is."

"You've killed sixteen people, all in rather brutal ways if our sources are correct, disfigured Hercule and forced Videl to do your bidding again. And I must say that you are far more cranky then I would have thought, considering what you made her do last night. I'd have expected you to be somewhat relieved about it."

All of a sudden Nahog was standing in front of David, a look of unadulterated hatred on his face. Knowing by instinct and intellect alike that Nahog could easily kill him, David quickly backed off, falling backwards with his chair.

"Shut up." Nahog whispered, sounding far more threatening and deadly then anything he could have shouted. "Say what you want about how I work, but you will keep your goddamn nose out of my business, got it!"

"Y-yeah, I-I-I got it…" David meekly said, still stunned by the shock and pain of the fall, as well as Nahog's anger. Gathering himself again, he stood up and pulled the seat back as well before sitting in it again.

"Now, what where you going to complain about?"

"Mr. Church wishes to express a friendly message that, while you are most certainly skilled and intelligent, he can not fail to notice that now you have failed your assignment once again."

"No I didn't." Nahog protested. "Last time you told me that you didn't want anymore mind games, but bodies. Well, I got you your bodies. You just failed to specify which ones you wanted."

Nahog was out of the room before David could even recover from this remark.

XxX

"Is that.." Sharpener hopefully said as yet another doctor walked through the hallway. The doctor simply walked past them, still in discussion with a nurse, so it wasn't the doctor that they where waiting for.

"Goddamn it." Cursing out loud, Sharpener sat down in a seat again. Erasa was sitting opposite of him, curled up as small as she could; her knees where pulled up, feet on the chair, and her face hidden behind her knees.

It had been years since Sharpener had seen Erasa looks so defeated.

"What's taking them so damn long!" As he had been doing almost none stop since arriving, Sharpener stood up again, beginning to pace the hallway of the hospital. Erasa didn't even move, her eyes locked on her knees.

They had been waiting in the hospital for well over five hours now, arriving as soon as they could after hearing the news. Sharpener was sure he had earned no less then five speeding tickets on the way over, but he couldn't care less. But nothing at all had happened since they arrived, except that he had gotten into arguments with four nurses, three doctors and even a security guard. The last one had threatened to evict him from the building, but once he heard that they where close friends of Videl he let them off with a mere warning that they shouldn't act like that anymore.

Sometimes it helped having powerful friends.

But right now, they where in extreme distress over those powerful friends. Apparently, they weren't as powerful as everyone had believed. Hercule was still in surgery, the best surgeons in the hospital working on him as they tried to remove all the splintered bones. No-one needed to say that with injuries as extensive as Hercule had received, it was nearly impossible to restore him to anything resembling fighting form.

But as selfish and wrong as it might have been, neither Sharpener nor Erasa were worried about Hercule so much as Videl. At least with Hercule they had heard _something_. Videl had still not moved at all from the waiting-room in which they had placed her when Hercule went into surgery. And since that particular room was in a off-limits area, neither of the blonds could go see their friend.

Sharpener sat down again, still looking agitated.

"Hey Sharpener…" Erasa's voice was cracked; she hadn't spoken all day – which was odd in itself – and she was obviously stopping shivers or sobs from breaking her. "What do you think will… how will Videl take… you know."

Sharpener knew exactly what she was talking about. But of course, it wasn't something they actually wanted to name.

"I don't know, Erasa." He said, standing up again and sitting down next to her. she looked like she needed the moral support, as he slung an arm over her shoulder. "I… I really don't know. I don't know what to do anymore."

Erasa was resting her head on his shoulder now, her own arm slung across Sharpener's back. She wasn't the only one who needed some moral and emotional support.

XxX

"Will you stop it with that infernal walking, you incredibly annoying brat." Vegeta burst out as Gohan walked by for the twentieth time in ten minutes. With everyone living so close together and no outlet for pent-up frustration – training always worked nicely to calm the Prince of Saiyans down – Vegeta had been increasingly agitated. And added to that where his own frustrations about his last little skirmish with Nahog, having to live with a agitated Gohan all day long and the prince's patience had finally reached it's end.

Piccolo, sensing problems, stepped forward from the wall as well. He had been watching Gohan all morning, alert for any changes in his sudden behavior that might indicate a desire to attack or break down.

Gohan stopped his pacing and glared down at Vegeta. For a few seconds, the tension was thick enough to cut with a knife and chew. Then Vegeta stood up from the sofa and spoke up again.

"If you want to pace around so damn much, then get the hell out of here and start walking outside. Just stop getting on _my_ nerves!"

"Well too bad, but I don't listen to you!" Gohan's reply was far more venomous then normal, but Vegeta replied in kind.

"Well you'd better, you ignorant runt."

"Give me one reason."

"Because you are an idiot who can't seem to get his head out of his ass!"

"Like you're that much better, you still can't get over the simple fact that you're a prince without people. You still think that your better then others because you're a prince of your species. Except that you're the last one of your species left!"

At this point Piccolo decided that they where really going to come to a fight soon, so he quickly appeared in between the two, forcing them apart.

"You'll pay for that, you brat!"

"For what, you can't come to face the truth, live with it!"

"Well, look who's talking! You can't even begin to get your feet back on the ground because you refuse to accept that you might have an enemy that hit you where it really hurt."

"Watch it…" Gohan was now clenching his fists, looking ready to attack Vegeta, whether Piccolo was in the way or not. Vegeta also raised his powerlevel, crouching down to prepare for battle.

"Face it! You thought you had had the worst when your idiot of a father got killed, but you are proving yourself your father's son, aren't you? You're an even bigger idiot then he ever was!"

"Shut up!" In his outburst, the energy that erupted from Gohan's body was strong enough to crash all the furniture into the walls. Some even went through it.

"You don't know what the hell I'm going through, how I feel, you don't know anything! Keep your damn mouth shut when you don't understand how I'm suffering because of what that asshole did!"

This remark apparently reached something of the proud prince that no-one had expected. He suddenly stood up, dropping his fighting stance, and looked at Gohan one long time before turning around. The sudden change in behavior shocked Gohan and Piccolo into silence, although Piccolo did a much better job of hiding it.

"I know how it feels to have a desire for revenge that you can not satisfy. I know better then anyone else how you feel right now boy." The prince said before flying outside, making yet another hole in the wall.

For some reason that he didn't understand, Gohan suddenly crashed down to the floor, unceremoniously landing on his behind as a rush of unexpected emotions came over him. Before he had even realized that he was crying, Gohan could feel thick wet tears streaming down his cheeks, while sobs shocked his entire body.

For the first time since he was six years old, Gohan Son broke down on the floor and couldn't stop himself from crying like a baby.

XXXxxxXXXxxx

Unfortunately, this chapter wasn't beta'd because Kushin is too busy with exams right now. any all mistakes still left are mine

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please let me know what you thought of it in a review


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: don't own anything from the DBZ universe, just borrowing it.

* * *

"So Nahog, is the food to your satisfaction?" Mr. Church asked as the demi-saiyan ate his seventh serving. Even though the teen had devoured massive amounts of food he made sure to keep eating politely.

"Yeah, the food's good Leonard." Nahog answered in between two spoons of rice. "Like always, your cooks really know how to cook."

"Thank you, I'll be sure to let them know you where pleased."

After that silence ruled the table again, until finally Nahog laid down his cutlery and looked directly across the table at the crime lord.

"So." He simply said as he rested his head on one hand, assuming a bored pose.

"Ah yes, the reason why I invited you over for dinner." Church said, taking a sip of his wine. "Ah, a good year indeed." With a satisfied smile on his face he placed the glass on the table again. As he looked back at Nahog, his face changed, assuming full-business mode.

"Now Nahog, I called you over because there is something I wish to talk to you about." Church started. "Would you like a drink before I start?"

"No thanks, I still have my glass of water." Nahog raised the glass for emphasis. "So please, continue."

"Very well. I wish to talk to you about your performance lately. You have been lacking both restraint and respect Nahog, and I'm afraid that I can not continue our alliance with you if do not wizen up."

"Oh really?" Nahog didn't change his expression, carefully keeping up the mask of boredom and indifference. "So far I've kept my end of the deal though: Capsule Corporation is pretty much destroyed, the morale all-over the planet hasn't been this low since Cell seven years ago, I've caused the biggest drop in stock breaks in the past two hundred years – which you have made very good use of I might add - and Hercule and Videl will never stand in your way again. How have I not kept up my end of the deal?"

"Granted, you've accomplished those goals, but you have not done as I asked of you: I wanted Hercule and Videl dead and you've wasted two perfectly good chances to kill them. As long as they're alive, there is a chance they will recover and in doing so restore some hope to the people. I can not have that." Church took another zip of his wine. "And aside from that you've shown open disrespect to my representative and, in doing so, to me. Allow me to remind you, Nahog, that you are an employee of mine just as much as my butler, assassins or policemen. And as my employee, you will follow the rules that I keep or suffer the consequences."

Now Nahog looked up, a flash of annoyance and dislike crossing his features before he finally settled on an amused look. But Mr. Church hadn't missed those flashes.

"Oh don't get me wrong, I know perfectly well no-one in my employ can hurt you. Right now, I'm willing to believe the only ones who can hurt you are your creator and Vegeta Briefs, neither of whom will be inclined to help me. However, there are other ways I can work."

"The threat of cutting my funding is getting kind of old Leonard." Nahog cut in, assuming his bored look again. He almost flinched for a second as his stomach played up, like it had been doing all day, but kept himself in check. "Before long the new clones will be ready and your only threat will become void."

"Now, now Nahog." Church leaned back in his chair, a self-satisfied smirk on his face. "There's no need to get so rude. But I must say, you look a bit pale my friend. I would almost think you are not feeling well…" his grin returned as he leaned forward. "A bad case of stomach cramps and diarrhea perhaps?"

Nahog's head shot up, his eyes locked on Mr. Church's with a look of surprise.

"As I was saying, I know very well none of my men can hurt you. however, that does not make you indestructible. I took you in half a year ago at your request when you still had the body of a nine year old. You explained your situation and desires and I agreed to them as you well know. It is because of me that you managed to grow to a full adult and can get your revenge. But even as a child I already knew you where a danger unlike any other. So I tested you one day, without you knowing. You are as weak to poisons and drugs like any normal human. Refuse to cooperate with me and you might wish to check every meal you ever take for poisons. Even the most supreme of fighters cannot win a fight against what is inside their system, a poison destroying them from within."

With another look of supreme satisfaction, Mr. Church stood up and walked across the table. Nahog was still sitting in his seat, his hands clenched into fists.

"Now that that is clear, I have another task I wish to ask of you. and you will see this finished or there will be… problems."

Reluctantly, Nahog followed Mr. Church into the next room. Even as he walked, he never unclenched his fist, frustration his prime emotion.

XxX

"Shouldn't we go and talk to Vegeta?" Yamcha was actually looking worried at the prolonged absence of the arrogant Saiyan Prince. "He's been gone for almost three days now."

"Don't worry about it." Bulma assured him once again. "It isn't the first time Vegeta's done this. He disappears for a couple of days whenever he needs to gather his thoughts, he'll be back before long. For now, let's just be glad that Gohan is almost back to himself."

Ever since Gohan sudden breakdown into tears – having apparently reached his breaking point – he had been somewhat restored. The crying had lasted for almost five hours, after which Gohan had been too exhausted and dehydrated to stay conscious. Piccolo had carried him upstairs and Chichi had tucked her eldest son in. After sleeping for nearly twenty hours straight, Gohan had woken up as nearly his old self.

He had made it clear that he was still determined to kill Nahog – giving dark glares to anyone who would dare mention him, but on the plus side he wasn't stalking around the entire day, glaring at everyone and hardly sleeping.

At that moment, Gohan was outside with Goten and Piccolo, doing some training. Trunks had been outside until a few minutes ago when Bulma had called him back inside.

"So, mom what did you want?" the lavender-haired boy asked, a grin on his face as he was covered in sweat. "Gohan was having me and Goten fight him, it was waaay cool! Why'd you have to call me back inside?"

"Because we're going home for a few minutes and I need you to fly me there." Bulma simply said, folding the newspaper she had been reading and picking up her bag.

"But mom…" Trunks was instantly shut up by the look his mother send his way. "Ok, fine, just don't take too long. I want to do some more training when I get back, Gohan's training is way different from dad's!"

"Don't let your father hear how happy you are with those trainings." Bulma warned with a smile on her face. "But we're only going to go pick up a few things. The mail, some movies, toys, a computer and some other things. We won't be gone long."

Once outside she put her arms around her son's neck, who in turn had to embrace his mother – much to his annoyance – before taking off. Despite the training Trunks had just done, he was still faster then any plane Bulma had ever flown. His energy – like his father had been sure to teach him – created a large field around him to reduce the wind to nearly nothing. Bulma hardly felt a breeze as her son flew at supersonic speeds. They reached their fake address no ten minutes after departing.

It was a large mansion, though nothing like the Capsule Corporation Main Building had been. Of course, they didn't actually live here – it was their vacation residence – but they had given this as their temporary new address since their home was destroyed. Bulma unlocked the door and immediately Trunks rushed in, going to collect the toys that he kept in this house. It would provide him, Goten and Marron some more variation, since they had been getting tired of always playing tag or hide-and-seek. Not to mention that Goten was far too good at the later, frequently playing the game with mountain animals.

Bulma pulled the pile of mail out of the mailbox, moved to the living room and dropped the pile on the table. First, she needed some coffee. A few minutes later Bulma returned to the table, armed with a cup of the strong black liquid, and sat down to sort the mail. The newspapers where removed first. Most of them where out-dated already and she had kept up with the news while at Oolong's.

Next came the fan mail, consolation-mail for loosing her home, commercials and other useless mail. The pile that remained after this splitting – which had lasted well over half an hour – was only a tenth of the original pile. These last twelve letters where actually worth reading, Bulma had concluded. So, after refilling her cup, she tore open the first one. It was a contract that required her personal attention. She set it aside from the moment.

After going through three more letters – another multi-billion zenni contract and two offers to reconstruct CC's main building – Bulma raised the fourth envelope to eye level. Once she saw the seal placed atop it, she tore it open. This kind of mail was important, no matter what it said. Her eyes quickly scanned over the content.

'_This is…_' Bulma realized. '_I've got to tell the others!_'

"TRUNKS! GET DOWN HERE NOW!" she yelled up the stairs. Her son was at her side at once, his hands still holding a racecar and horse that he had been playing with. "We have to get back, now! As fast as you can!"

Trunks had no idea what was going on, but he could tell that his mother was in a near panic, so he transformed into a Super Saiyan at once, grabbed his mom and flew back towards the mansion.

They got in two minutes flat, but the others where already waiting outside for them to arrive. Vegeta suddenly appeared behind them as well, having sensed his son's sudden transformation.

"Woman, what's going on?!" he yelled.

"Later!"

As soon as they landed, the others where upon them with questions.

"What happened?" Piccolo demanded, silencing the sudden rain of questions that was fired. "We could sense Trunks transforming into a Super Saiyan and flying over here like he had the devil himself on his toes. What's going on?"

Bulma couldn't control herself, immediately shouting out.

"I know where Nahog is going to strike next!" There was a collective gasp of surprise. "I know his next target!"

XxX

It was dark in the hospital room. Videl preferred it that way; no-one would see the dark circles around her red and puffy eyes. The darkness was comforting, when all she wanted was to be alone. Yet at the same time she was scared of the darkness and even more so at being alone. Maybe that's why she sat there.

In the bed next to her, a barely recognizable Hercule looked like he was fast asleep. She knew that he wasn't: the doctors had put him into a chemically induced coma so he wouldn't feel most of the pain. The injuries that Gohan had inflicted upon him where severe enough to cause intense and chronicle pain, but they wouldn't kill him.

'_Oh dad._' Videl thought to herself. '_I need you. I need you more then I've ever thought I would._' She wouldn't ever say it to anyone, but Videl was hurting. A hurting that was far worse then any physical pain she had ever suffered.

'_Why did this have to happen to us?_' her train of thought continued. '_Why do I always have such rotten luck? First mom left us, going to live with some other guy, Erasa dates the first boy I ever like, the second boy I've ever liked turns into that… that… pure evil._' Of course Videl had never told Erasa that she had also liked Sharpener – which was probably a good thing in the long run – but nevertheless the raven-haired fighter had been hurting whenever she saw her two blond friends make out. And Gohan… Gohan was a special case all together.

Again tears broke free from Videl's eyes as she curled up in her chair again. Whenever she thought of Gohan she managed to burst into fresh tears. It was a miracle she hadn't dehydrated yet from all the crying she had done.

'_Dad…. I need you._' Videl said to herself again. '_I want you to hold me again, yell at me for being so soft-hearted and tell me everything is going to be alright._' The wish may have been childish, but never before did Videl realize just how much she had always depended on her father, even though she was considered an adult and responsible teenagers, who hadn't asked her father for help in years.

She didn't care about being childish anymore. She wanted her father back.

XxX

"Look at this!" Bulma said as she laid the letter over the table where everyone had rushed for the emergency meeting. "I'll read it up aloud. 'Dear Mrs. Briefs. Allow us to express our consolations for the sudden lose of your home before anything else. The content of this letter is directly related to the destruction of your home, which is the reason that we wish to send you this invitation. As you are no doubt aware, a string of world-wide events have been happening that greatly affect the inhabitants of this world. We believe that these events need to be brought to a stop and actions on a global level must be taken to achieve this. For this reason, it is our wish to invite you, along with Mr. Hercule Satan and the seventy-seven ruling classes to a meeting on the fifth of april, this year, to be held at the royal palace. Please let us know if you will be available to attend at that date. With regards, His Royal Majesty, World King Renard Furry, World King.'"

There was a deafening silence when Bulma finished. She let the information sink in for several minutes before speaking up again.

"Think about it, it's the perfect target. So far, everything Nahog did served two purposes: discrediting Gohan and terrorizing the people of earth. By destroying Capsule Corp, he brought the world's leader on science down. With Hercule, it was strength. The World King is the political leader of the world, the highest possible authority! If Nahog strikes him as well, there will be nothing to give people hope. It'll be complete chaos. You two probably have similar letters waiting for you back home." She motioned towards the Ox King and Chiaotzu.

"I don't get it." Goten suddenly said. "This Mr. Furry is the king right? But Mr. Chiaotzu is an emperor! How can he be and emperor, when there's a king above him? Shouldn't emperors be above kings? And… and Grandpa is also a king!"

"Allow me to explain." Chiaotzu chuckled. Next to him, the Ox King suddenly realized that he had never really explained the system of rulers to his youngest grandson. Gohan had already learned of the system by age 5, courtesy of the books that Chichi practically made the boy eat.

"There is one World King who has the highest political authority." The small emperor started. "However, since the world is such a large and busy place, he can't oversee everything that's happening. For that reason, there are seventy-seven other rulers, who bear various royal titles like King, Queen, Emperor and several others. They all report to the World King concerning the larger events, so he keeps control, but this system ensures that the World King can focus his attention on other matters."

"And, unlike what it may sound like, the title of World King isn't inherited by family like a normal King's title is. Instead, upon the passing or resignation of a World King, the remaining seventy-seven rulers hold a vote and decide upon a new king. This way, the power remains balanced instead of one family holding all power."

"And Bulma is right. Right now, the World King is the only leader the world has left that has been untouched. Not just that, but he's calling all seventy-seven sub-leaders there as well. Nahog can wipe out the world leaders in one blow if he wanted to. And if that happens… there will be utter chaos."

"Then it's simple." Gohan announced, raising from the table. "We kill Nahog at the summit, showing everyone that there are two versions of me."

"But guys…" Yamcha had pulled over a calendar and looked extremely worried. "The date that the king has specified… it's exactly two months and a week after Nahog attacked Bulma, Trunks and Vegeta. He'll have his clones done by then."

XxX

It was a bit later in the evening, after having send Goten, Marron and Trunks to bed, that Gohan was still walking around the corridors of Oolong's mansion. Exiting the mansion and walking into what remained of the garden – courtesy of his insane bout of training – Gohan found the one he had been looking for.

Dende was sitting in between the remains of the plants, lost in his own thoughts. When Gohan arrived, the Namek's eyes slowly opened to look at his friend. He didn't need to speak to invite Gohan to come and sit next to him. As Gohan sat down he made the request he had been thinking off all day.

"Hey Dende, do you think you can heal Hercule's injuries, without him or anyone knowing about it?"

"Shouldn't be too difficult." The young guardian said, but he didn't smile. "I can easily sneak into his hospital room and fix him in a jiffy, but Gohan… I can only heal his physical injuries, not the ones he suffered on the inside. The same applies to Videl. Even with my healing powers, I can't affect someone's psych."

Gohan looked down at the ground, avoiding eyecontact with his longtime friend, but his voice didn't change when he spoke again.

"I knew that. it's just that, if Hercule gets healed from his injuries, maybe it'll help restore some hope to the people, give them something to cling on too while there's such chaos."

"Oh really?" A third voice cut in. Vegeta and Bulma appeared behind the two, having apparently taken some time alone. "It sounds like your trying to get some redemption for what your clone did."

"Of course I do." Gohan started. "If I ever want to get rid of the blame, I have to prove that I'm nothing like Nahog."

"Are you really?"

"What!" Gohan's face immediately changed to one of pure fury. "What the hell do you mean, I'm nothing like that… that…"

"Save it." Vegeta interrupted. "I'm not interested in hearing what sort of attempt at an insult you'll use. But I'm talking about you claiming to have killed all those other clones."

"What about it?"

"You claim you've killed them, but you look almost indifferent when talking about it. it's the sole reason that your clone desires your death, just like you desire his death over what he did to the girl. But there is something that doesn't make sense."

By now Gohan was grinding his teeth together in frustration.

"The way I remember it, you where always reluctant to fight, let alone kill an enemy. You had nearly unmatched power when you finally decided to fight, but you always had difficulty finishing someone off. How exactly did you kill a large group of clones when killing is such a major problem? And since that lies at the very heart of our current dilemma I will have some answers!"

Gohan's eyes flashed from Bulma to Vegeta's a few times, until finally Bulma gave a solemn nod. Taking a deep breath, Gohan began speaking.

"We knew the clones where to dangerous, especially the ones that where copied by my DNA. Their power and intellect where the same as ours, but for the most part they had little love for us. Before long they would rebel against us and an army of me running around the planet intending on killing all of us would have the job done in two minutes flat. In order to prevent that, Bulma and I decided that they needed to be destroyed before they could reach the height of their power. And since we were the ones who started the experiment, we would have to be the ones to see it finished."

"But, we knew that Gohan had difficulty killing others." Bulma supplied, also sitting down. "Especially when they hadn't done anything to actually be killed. It was a preventive matter, not a last-change defensive fight. And that's not even talking about what kind of effects it might have on him to kill so many versions of himself."

"So we needed to find a solution." Gohan continued, almost lost in a trance as he spoke. "I have the ability and experience needed to kill, but my emotions get in the way and stop me, making me doubt about what I was doing. So Bulma gave me a drug that subdued my emotions for some time. I took the drug, waited for a few hours for it to really activate and proceeded to the cloning facility. I transformed just outside the door, going to my full power right away. I didn't feel anything, no fear, no anger, no hatred, no repulsion, nothing, as I stepped in and destroyed all the clones."

"All except one." Vegeta harshly reminded him

"Yeah, all except one." Gohan agreed.

"Then why not take the drug again, now that your emotions threaten everything?" Vegeta asked, for once not taunting but seemingly genuinely interested. "If you take that drug, your emotions will not hinder you any longer and we can move to destroy that pathetic excuse of a Saiyan."

"Because of the side-effects." Bulma immediately answered, before Gohan could even consider the idea. "Gohan took just one dose of the drug, but from what he described it was far more potent then it should have been for humans. We don't know what continued usage might do to him. And aside from that, after the drug had worn out, Gohan was ph't know what continued usage might do to him. And aside from that, after the drug had worn out, Gohan was physically weakened, he had to stay in bed all day. I've never heard Chichi so nervous on the phone as when Gohan had claimed he was too ill to get out of bed."

"Shame. You might actually turn into a decent Saiyan Warrior if you could have kept taking that drug. Your emotions are far too prominent in you, messing up your ability to fight."

With that, the Prince of all Saiyan reached out for Bulma's hand and, turning, left the garden with his wife, leaving Gohan to wonder about new questions that had popped up in his head.

* * *

Unfortunately, this chapter is unbeta'd due to Kushin eX being a bit busy this week, so any mistakes are my miss.

As always, please leave a review telling me what you think.


	11. Chapter 11

I don't own the dragonball universe, never will own it, just borrowing it for some fun.

* * *

It was an oddly quite afternoon at Oolong's mansion considering the events of recent weeks. Almost half the current residents had left the building, instead going out to train for the rest of the day. The group of super-powered warriors had even taken old man Roshi with them, much to the relief of Bulma and Chichi – and the annoyance of #18 – to give some advice for training forms. Hell, the old man could even give Goten and Trunks a few pointers for battle; he was the most seasoned veteran warrior alive. And fortunately for the inhabitants of the house, they had decided to go to a desert some seven hundred miles away for their training.

This left all the non-combatants around the house, doing various chores. Bulma had taken the day off to open her laptop and start catching up on her work. She had close to three hundred emails waiting for her, ranging from multi-billion-zenni contracts, to a question an employee had for her. Well, that's what she got for not checking up on her work for almost a full week. Oolong had recruited Puar, Yajirobe, Korin, Dende and Mr. Popo to help rebuild the damages his house had suffered for the past few weeks. Although neither Korin, Yajirobe, Popo nor Dende were strong enough to hold a candle to any of the other fighters – save Roshi of course – they still possessed superhuman speed and power. Combined with Oolong and Puar's shape shifting into any tool they'd possible need, the repairs were coming along smoothly.

This left Chichi alone in the mansion, looking over Marron as the young girl laid across the floor, books, drawings and toys spread all around her, with Turtle being asleep in some corner of the room. The Son matron had been cooking lunch for those still in the house, but it hadn't even taken her a quarter of the time it normally did.

It helped if there were no Saiyans around for once.

Unfortunately, this also left the mother of two very bored. She had already done most of the other house-hold chores she normally did, so most of the house was cleaned, but it was still only midday. Were her own children really such incredible sloths that she spent more time cleaning up her small house then she did this huge mansion?

"Oh wow, that is sooo cool!" Marron suddenly said, raising herself up from whatever she was reading before lowering herself and getting absorbed in the book again.

This drew Chichi's attention and as much to sate her curiosity as to kill time she stood up and laid herself down next to the girl.

"Hey Marron honey, what are you reading that's so cool?" she asked. She was rewarded with a toothy grin from the blond girl as she lifted the book to show the cover. It wasn't a book at all, but something Chichi had never allowed in her own house; a comic book. Ever since Gohan had been a small boy, nothing but real books had been allowed as reading material inside her home. That was probably the only reason Goku had not become completely illiterate.

"Look Aunt Chichi, it's a superhero comic book that Trunks borrowed me." The five year old said. Chichi could barely swallow the reflex to correct Marron's choice of words. "And this story has this mister, who dressed really weird, fight this other mister who completely hides his face! And they can both use magic of all sorts!" The little girl continued, pointing at each figure to show who she meant. "This mister with the mask is really bad too! He knows who the weird-dressed mister is and he stole the girl that he really, really likes, he even tied her up! And just now, Maskeradus, the masked mister, was saying really bad things, how he was going to rob every bank in the city! But just as he was, the weird-dressed mister named Amazing Mundo rushed in and punched the masked mister through a wall!"

"He did?" Chichi asked, starting to get interested. This was the worst a comic book could think of, an evil man kidnapping a girl, tying her up and bragging about stealing before the hero made his dramatic entrance to save the day? If that was the case, they might not have been so bad after all. "What's going to happen now?"

Marron grinned at her and turned back to the comic, starting to read aloud. The more the little girl lost herself in the story, the more Chichi agreed that she might have been wrong about comic books. This story was obviously all about a good person fighting for what was right, against a bad man who did everything that was wrong. Heck, 'Amazing Mundo' hardly even fought, he only evaded attacks and asked the bad guy to surrender! And even when Maskeradus didn't surrender, he gave him no less then six chances to give up when he had him knocked down before the villain finally made a mistake and fell into a river.

"So then, Amazing Mundo and Amalia returned home, holding hands. And look Aunt Chichi, everyone's cheering for them and being really happy even though Maskeradus robbed a bank!"

Now this was something that really got Chichi's attention. Suddenly an idea was born in her head as she stood up, a distant look in her face. She could hear the voices of Goten and Trunks as they ran through the hall, so she must have taken longer then she thought. If Goten and Trunks were back, that means everyone was back, including Gohan.

"GOHAN, GET IN HERE RIGHT NOW!" She hollered, beginning to circle the room as she refined her idea even further. Before she had even made two paces she crashed into her eldest son's broad chest. Her shout had been enough to bring all the Z-fighters rushing in, looking ready for a fight. Apparently, her cry had been enough to worry them, since they had completely disregarded the door.

Somewhere behind the group of warriors, Oolong could he heard uttering a very loud, creative and foul series of names for each of the warriors for the continued destruction upon his house. Normally Chichi would have berated him for such language in front of Goten, but a piece of leftover debris fell from the ceiling and knocked the pig out before anyone could really react.

"What is it mom, I thought something was happening to you!" Gohan said, relaxing his stance.

"I've got it!" the black-haired woman said, taking a step back from her son to look at him. "That Nahog has been bringing everyone down, scaring them beyond belief and we need a way to bring back some cheer in the world. You're going to do that. You're going to be a superhero!"

XxX

The initial surprise at Chichi's suggestion kept on for another two hours at least, in which she had to point out her reason again and again.

"Look at this comic," she started, "After the hero shows up and saves the day, everyone's happy again! With the hero there, they forget their suffering and cheer up." Of course, the first response was a loud cry of 'it's only a comic' but she supported her argument that Hercule had managed to raise the planet's morale when Cell appeared, by being the hero they needed. And now, an enemy far greater then Cell had appeared, so they needed a hero far greater then Hercule to do it. And who better then Gohan?

In the end, Bulma and the kids had agreed with the idea – the kids because they thought it'd be cool if they knew an actual superhero – and that sealed the deal. Gohan couldn't say no to the trio of puppy-dog eyes that almost begged him to do it.

So now the two mothers of half-human, half-saiyan warriors were sitting together, thinking of a design for Gohan's outfit, while Trunks, Marron and Goten had spread themselves across the floor after being given the important task of thinking up a superhero name.

"For the last time Goten," Trunks said, sounding very much like his father when he was so irritated, "The Great Gohan is NOT the kind of name we can use, it has to be a secret name! And besides that, almost everyone thinks that Gohan is the bad guy."

"But he's not!" the black-haired boy whined. "We need to make everyone know my brother's not the bad guy and this makes them know!"

"How about Captain Cool?" Marron asked, completely ignoring the argument of the boys. "Or maybe The Great and very Handsome Savior of the World?"

"NO!" both half-breeds shouted at the same time. Over at the table, Bulma and Chichi sighed as they bend back over their work. As amusing as it was to listen to the trio go on, it would take them a long, long time to come up with a suitable name. Still, it was by far the best way to have them behave after dinner that they had found so far.

Meanwhile, Gohan had left the room and joined Dende out in the garden, overlooking the remains of the garden. Actually, thanks to Oolong forcing everyone to help in construction work when they were doing nothing, the garden was beginning to look a bit less like a wasteland.

"Dende, I was wondering if there might be some way that we could heal Hercule, preferably without being spotted. Mom's idea is a bit weird, but she's right; we need to restore some hope to the people. Everything that Nahog's done so far has effectively destroyed all hope that people have. If we can restore Hercule, we can give them back some of their hope."

"I don't know Gohan." The Guardian softly said, leaning on his staff. "It shouldn't be too hard to heal him with my powers, but I doubt I can get into his room and stay long enough to heal him without being caught."

"I thought so." Gohan admitted, but it didn't slow him down a bit. "I know this is an odd question, but is it maybe possible for you to give me some of your healing ability? I don't know how it works, but if it's anything like Energy, you can pass some to me and I can use it for a short time. If so I can go into Hercule's room and if possible be seen healing him, when I appear as a superhero. It would certainly be a nice start."

"It would be, but I can't." Dende said, looking down again. "I can't give my healing powers to someone else, not even to borrow or something of the sort. It's… a strange power, more magical then really based on energy, and I can't give it to anyone else. And although your idea is a good one, I don't think it can work. The only way my healing powers will get anywhere near Hercule is if I go myself, and I can't really pass for you now can I?"

That much was a fact. Aside from the obvious difference of his skin color, the size and shape of his ears and the two antenna's in front of his face, there were the differences in size. Nearly ten years ago, Gohan and Dende had been the same size, but their difference in lifestyle had shown up since then. Gohan stood almost a foot taller then Dende and twice as broad in the shoulders as the Namek. Not to mention that Gohan's chest was also significantly larger then Dende's.

As the two good friends stood in silent companionship, they were somewhat startled to hear a loud smack behind them, followed by a grunt and the unmistakable sound of someone crashing face-first into the ground. Turning around to see what was going on, Gohan and Dende saw Korin and Yajirobe. Korin still had his staff held as long as possible, while Yajirobe lay face-first on the ground, mumbling curses and complaints about cats all the while.

"Will you quit whining you lazy coward and just do what I say!" the split-eyed cat said, holding his staff at his side again.

"How many times do I have to tell you people I'm not a coward!" The samurai whined, raising himself again.

- smack - another slap from Korin's staff.

"Just give him the bean. Gohan has far more use of it then you'll ever have." The cat said, as if it was a discussion that was going for days. The mention of a bean got Gohan's attention though.

"Hmpf, fine, I'll give him the blasted bean. It's just such a waste to use it on someone like that oaf." Still complaining, Yajirobe put one hand in his belt, fishing around for something. After a few seconds of looking for something, the samurai apparently found a secret pocket on the inside of his belt, opened it and pulled out a single senzu bean.

"Here take it." With a careless flick of the wrist, Yajirobe tossed the bean at the demi-saiyan. "I always keep a spare bean on me, in case something happens or I somehow get in trouble. Didn't want to waste it on someone like Hercule though."

Gohan's face had lit up like his birthday had come ten months early as he grabbed the bean. This was the ticket to healing Hercule and, in doing so, the first ticket to disabling Nahog's plan.

"Don't worry Yajirobe, it won't be lost on a bad cause. Right now, getting Hercule back on his feet is the best cause we have, short of killing Nahog himself."

XxX

Three days later Gohan found himself levitating between the clouds above Satan City, waiting for the right time to carry out his new mission. Hidden from sight in the clouds, Gohan couldn't help but give himself a once-over again. A black bodysuit, white boots and gloves not unlike Vegeta's and a green toga with red cape covered his body. That part, Gohan had liked. It was the helmet that annoyed him; with all the antennae and other things on it, it looked ridiculous. Immediately he remembered Bulma's reaction to that statement…

"I told you," the blue-haired genius had said, "What people need right now is not some super cool, mysterious and badass superhero, they need someone who's amusing, a bit of an idiot in anything he does. Nahog is spreading depression around; you're going to spreading laughs around. So act like an idiot, wear that costume and make sure that you're ridiculous enough as a hero to crack everyone up. And that helmet is also highly functional; it stops any and all kinds of scanners from going through it. Not much use having a secret identity if people can know who you are."

For the third time in the past hour; Gohan or, as the trio of pre-teens had eventually decided to dub his superhero form, Saiyaman checked the senzu bean in his belt's secret pocket. It was still there.

"Well, time to get this show on the road." Gohan muttered to himself before he shot down, straight towards the weak remains of Hercule's energy signal.

A minute later Gohan had found the window of Hercule's room which was fortunately left open for some fresh air. Other then Hercule, he didn't see anyone else in the room. Slowly pushing the window open, the superhero levitated himself in and floated an inch from the champ's bed. He would leave without so much as a footprint if he could help it.

But when he was floating next to the bed, he saw that he was wrong; Videl was also in the room, asleep in a chair next to her father's bed. She looked nothing like the lively, well-groomed girl he had known at school; her skin was much too pale, her hair a mess and from what he could see, there were clear marks on her cheeks from tears. She also looked much more skinny then ever before and she was highly tensed even in her sleep.

Nevertheless, Gohan's heart jumped and his stomach did flip-flops when he saw her.

'_Come on Gohan, don't waste this opportunity._' He told himself, trying to focus on his task. '_Get back and heal Hercule._' Slowly he forced his gaze away from the girl of his dreams and floated over to the other side of Hercule's bed. As quietly as he could, Gohan unclasped the pocket that had the healing bean and raised his hand to drop it in the champ's mouth. If he could get it into Hercule's throat, the man's swallow-reflexes would do the rest of the work.

Just as Gohan was about to drop the bean in Hercule's mouth, Videl suddenly woke up, stretching her arms out in front of him as she led out a wide yawn. The movement surprised the new superhero, freezing him in place. While his eyes were still fixed upon Videl's face, the girl turned around to look at her father and was also shocked to suddenly find a weirdo standing over her father. The shock lasted for a second before Videl dropped into her stance.

"What the hell do you want!" Videl shouted, crouching down to jump at him. "Get the hell away from my father!"

'_Not good!_' Gohan realized, knowing that Videl's shouting would soon have the entire hospital staff rushing over to see what was going on. He released the bean, letting it drop in Hercule's mouth, before ducking to evade Videl's flying kick. Her foot making contact with the wall behind Gohan, Videl pushed off and attacked again with a war cry.

This time, Gohan caught her leg as the crime fighter tried to roundhouse-kick him. But instead of tossing her to the ground, or even flipping her to get some space, he simply let the leg go, allowing Videl to land without any problems.

"Please, Ms Videl, calm down. I don't mean to harm anyone!" Gohan tried, remembering Yamcha's advice that he altered his voice while speaking. "I'm only here to help."

"Help this!" Videl said as her fist made a certain-crash course with Saiyaman's visor. For his part, Gohan simply moved his head to the side before gently placing one hand on Videl's back and giving her a light push. It was all Videl could do to regain her footing before coming into an intimate nose-first meeting with the wall on the other side of the room.

There were footsteps in the hallway now, people running over to see what was happening. Acting quickly, Gohan lifted Hercule's limp frame with one hand and stabilized the champ's head as it bended backwards. Videl let out a large cry of "NO!" and three security officers rushed into the room, but there was the hard-to-recognize sign of something slipping down the champ's throat. Mission complete.

One of the security men tried to jump at the hero, but he floated upwards and moved towards the window. Videl was already running after him, dead set on killing this guy for whatever he had done to her father. Gohan had reached the window, Videl hot on his heels, when a sudden, unexpected and rough groan was heard throughout the room. Videl stopped in her tracks, her head whipping around; she knew that voice!

The caped fighter jumped out of the window, using the sudden shock to escape unnoticed, while Hercule opened his eyes and slowly pushed himself up, groaning a bit. He held himself up with one hand and moved the other to his chin.

A group of doctors and nurses came into the room a half minute later, only to run into three completely flabbergasted security guards looking at Videl Satan as she was crying her eyes out and laughed into her father's shoulder.

XxX

As she flew her jetcopter around the city, Videl was once again feeling very confused about what she was feeling.

On one hand, she was nearly jumping for joy; her father had made a full recovery, no injuries remaining. He didn't even have scars from the surgery! The only bad thing was how mad he was that Videl hadn't followed his orders and ran away when she still had a chance. And, if she was honest, she had to thank that idiot with the cape for her father's recovery. As it was, as soon as word of Hercule's recovery reached the World King's ears, they received an invite to the summit that was being held in three weeks.

But on the other hand, the caped moron was the source of much confusion and even annoyance on Videl's part. So far he hadn't done anything bad, but he had been flying all over the world, appearing to help out in just about any crime that was being broadcasted on any police scanner. East City had a hostage situation? Saiyaman was there. Ten minutes later, there was a bomb-report in the Arctic? Saiyaman was there.

Much about the man vexed the fighter; why would he hide his identity like that, why would a guy of his abilities – since he had displayed incredible strength, speed and even immunity to bullets in his short time of superhero-ing – be such an incredible idiot? And who the hell would've ever thought of those ridiculous poses he keeps doing? And who the hell named himself Saiyaman? She could well remember being completely dumbstruck when she first saw him introduce herself, which was recorded by a tourist with a camera and then broadcasted on international television.

But the main source of her frustration was that Saiyaman always beat her to the crime, even when something was going on in Satan City itself. Ever since recovering, Videl had been looking forward to kicking some bad-guy butt, but so far she hadn't gotten anywhere near a conscious crook yet.

Suddenly she saw a speck shoot into the sky no more then a hundred meters to the side. There was only one thing she knew of that would take off from Satan City in the middle of the day; Saiyaman. Immediately she turned her copter around until she was flying directly towards the superhero. For his part, Saiyaman didn't even seem to notice her arrival, as he was still waving to whoever he had assisted down on the ground.

Videl slowed her flying machine down as she hovered next to the man. He finally noticed her when the roar of the engines became impossible to ignore. Knowing he couldn't hear her through the plated glass, Videl used signs as much as she could to indicate she wanted to talk to him on top of a building that she was pointing at. After looking confused for a second, Saiyaman nodded before shooting into another weird pose and flying towards the building.

Videl landed half a minute after the hero who was standing around, waiting for her.

"Good day Ms Videl." He greeted with that weird-pitch in his voice again. "I'm glad to see you're doing well."

"Huh? Yeah, thanks I suppose…" the girl said, not really sure how to respond to such an odd greeting.

"I mean it." the man said, looking quite a bit more serious then he had ever appeared on TV. "When I saw you in the hospital room, you looked like you were ill yourself, I'm glad to see that you've regained a bit of your spark." As he spoke, his voice evened out a bit more, like the man was forgetting to keep up his fake tone. Yet he sounded so… sincere.

For his part, Gohan was barely holding himself back from freaking out around Videl. What he had said was true, she did look a lot better then last time; no tear-marks, no puffy eyes, her skin had regained a bit of color and her hair was almost the same as it had been when he had attended school with her. But she still looked a far cry from the spirited girl he had come to know.

"Hey Saiyaman…" Videl started, looking uneasy. She took a deep breath before continuing. "I wanted to… to thank you. For what you did for my father I mean." She blurted out.

"It was my pleasure Ms Videl." He finally said after a few seconds. "I always wish to help out those in need."

"How did you do it?" Seeing Saiyaman's own uncomfortable reaction Videl seemed to somehow relax, leaning her back into the fence around the roof as she looked at the hero. "The doctors said there was no hope for a recovery, but whatever you did fixed dad perfectly well."

"It was a rare medicine, that is almost mystical in nature." He finally started. "A bean that is said to heal all injuries that are sustained as soon as the bean is consumed, as well as cure most diseases. Most discard it as a myth, a legend, but I have been given the medicine on occasion and knew it could help. Since I heard of… of what happened… I set out to search for the bean that I needed. Finally, after some time of searching, I found it."

It was as close to the truth as he could come without revealing too many secrets. It was just hoping Videl would not ask further.

"Is that so?" Her tone didn't promise much good, surely she would demand more answers from him… "Well, if that's so I'll have to thank you again for going through all that trouble for my father."

This response, so unlike what he had expected, shocked the masked crime fighter enough to almost make him lose his balance.

"But… do you mind telling me just who you are? For real." The question was slyly asked, a passing remark between friends, but it was still there. Gohan knew he couldn't really answer it, he could not go and say 'It's me, Gohan, the guy who's crazy for you but who you think raped you.' No, he'd have to stay in his role for now. Videl, along with the rest of the world, didn't need Gohan; the Gohan they knew was a terrorist unlike any other. What they needed, was Saiyaman.

"Very well Ms Videl, I'll tell you." He said, a smile appearing on his face as he walked. He could almost see Krillin's grin as he remembered what the black-haired monk had suggested as a trademark.

"You know, Gohan." He had started, almost cracking up with laughter already, "If you want to be a good superhero, you'll need a trademark that everyone can recognize you by. Like a line you always say, or a weapon you always use. And since you want to be as amusing as possible, why not imitate the trademark of the biggest bunch of idiots we've ever fought; the Ginyu Force."

Combined with Bulma's lecture of being a goofball hero, Gohan had quickly adopted Krillin's suggestion to strange posing. He had even developed a liking to it; it felt good to be odd sometimes.

Jumping from one stance to another, Gohan finally crouched down and held his hands pointing to the side, forming a large T-shape with his body.

"I am The Great Saiyaman!" He nearly shouted, causing Videl to face-fault into the roof of the building. "Defender of all that is Just and Right, Foe of Evil and Darkness! Now if you would please excuse me, I believe my justice-sensors are going off. Until next time Ms Videl."

Videl got up just in time to see Saiyaman take off, heading straight east, away from the Satan Mansion. Yet for some reason, she couldn't help a bit of a goofy grin that threatened to break out on her face after the man's odd behavior. An oddball, sure, but at least he was an amusing oddball.

XxX

"**And with that, we conclude our interview with Videl Satan 'The View on Saiyaman,'"** The reporter concluded on the television. **"Stay tuned for our next show, 'Who is Sai-'"**

Nahog didn't need to hear the rest; he already knew exactly who this Saiyaman was. There was only one person with that build, height and power on the planet. It was too tall to be Vegeta, too unscarred for Yamcha, too white for Tien and too… not-green for Piccolo. It was Gohan that was much for certain. But that hadn't been the reason he had shut off the TV.

Although Gohan's choice to turn into a superhero was something he hadn't counted on, now that it had happened it did make sense; Nahog had every making of a supervillain, so a superhero would be needed to fight him.

"Fight crime and act stupid all you want Gohan, it won't matter in the end." Nahog muttered, standing up from the couch. The reason he had shut off the TV was that just now an alarm clock had gone off, indicating it was finally time. "In the end, you have done nothing that can change my plans. Cheer the people up all you want, I don't care. Causing Chaos is Church's goal, for me… it's just the means."

'_But…_' he was forced to admit as he walked into the corridor, '_Videl is doing a lot better then I had anticipated. Could it be because of the conversations she's claimed to have with Gohan?_'

For the past two weeks, Videl and Saiyaman had been spotted multiple times flying from rooftops and the like. Naturally, the tabloids had a field day with the two heroes, but Videl had simply said that she had talked with Saiyaman a few times, mostly to thank him for healing her father. Oh well, after today he wouldn't ever have to think of Videl again.

'_Hmpf, Saiyaman.'_ Nahog's mind continued, going into overdrive speed at the prospect he would be seeing in this tube. _'Such a ridiculous name; but an easy one. A Saiyan and Human combined, both in blood and name.'_

"Good morning Nahog." One of his assistants, the young somewhat rude but overall likable young man he had come to know as Ralph, said. "I almost thought we'd have to get this show on the road without you for the party. Sure took you sweet time."

"I was busy." Nahog simply said. "Are we ready to proceed?"

"Of course we are." The man simply said, turning back to the controls. "We're going into restoration mode. Sleep-inducers have, as you ordered, stopped five hours ago. She'll be waking up any minute now."

"Good, proceed."

Nahog, along with his entire team of mob-employed researches had gathered in the room, standing around the first of the four cloning tubes. They could vaguely see the teenage form inside the tube, but it was protected from sight by a lifetime's worth of long black hair. There was a slight stirring in the tube as the clone began to move.

At the same time, Ralph started the draining of the growth-fluids, drastically reducing the liquid that the clone was floating in. Before long the clone stood on the bottom of the tube and moved it's hair out of the way, revealing her nude form to the world. As soon as the remains of the tube were lifted, she stepped away from the machine, eyes intend on Nahog who was grinning at her.

Stunned at what – and who – they saw, the researchers almost let out a huge cheer of success; they had completed in making a real, living clone!

"Come on." Nahog said as he swung his coat around the girl. "Let's get you dressed properly before anything else. And you could also use a haircut before we talk. We only have a week until the others wake up as well."

"No, I have another idea; a much better order of things if I say so myself." The clone softly said, her voice sounding somewhat stiff, as it was being used for the first time. Still, she leaned on her tip-toes so she could whisper in Nahog's ear.

"We go to your room so you can… fill me in… then I can get a haircut before we ehm… talk some more. I think we'll have a lot of catching up to do, don't you? After that, I can get dressed."

The researchers who could hear the clone's words were all stunned, but didn't say or do anything as Nahog gladly allowed himself to be dragged from the room, a grin on his face.

* * *

As always, much thanks to my beta, Kushin eX for going over this chapter, I hope you liked it.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or anything related to it.

* * *

"Are you sure Goten and Trunks should be here?" Bulma asked Gohan when she saw the two pre-teens enter the newly dubbed strategy room.

"Well, I've got tasks for the both of them, so they'll need to hear the plan. And maybe they'll pick something up about planning." Gohan reasoned, but Bulma still looked none too pleased about the two small boys being included in the battle plan.

Only three days had remained until the World King's Summit, all the people who had been summoned had responded and now the Z-fighters were going over their strategy for the event. They couldn't go with their traditional plan of 'go in; blow everyone that doesn't agree with us up and walk away victorious, with a few dead we'll soon revive.'

First off, because with the exception of Gohan, Piccolo and the boys, none of the warriors could be revived by Shenron. Second off, because Nahog would sure as hell have a plan ready and all of the other clones would be ready. Despite Bulma best efforts with her intelligence network, there was still no hint about Nahog's hideout.

So, Gohan had proposed a strategy meeting, since he had already thought out most of it. Bulma, Roshi and the Ox King were the only people included that weren't going to fight. Bulma and the Ox King were invited as the King's guests, while Roshi's experience and insight in combat might prove valuable.

"Ok, so here's the basic line-up." Gohan started, activating the holographic screen installed in the room. "Grandpa, Bulma and Chiaotzu are all invited and allowed to bring a small company. Vegeta and Trunks will accompany Bulma as her family, while Tien goes as Chiaotzu's bodyguard. So far, there's nothing unexpected. Krillin, I'd like you to accompany Grandpa as his bodyguard, allowing you entry to the summit. Any questions so far?"

As Gohan explained, the names appeared on screen, lines indicating each group. The three Brief's were connected, Krillin to Ox King and Tien to Chiaotzu. Everyone confirmed they didn't have questions, allowing Gohan to continue.

"I'll be joining Bulma's group in a disguise, claiming I'm a bodyguard as well. Vegeta and Trunks go with Bulma as family, I'm the bodyguard; the king will have no complaints."

A picture of Gohan appeared, linked to the Brief's.

"I don't think you should do that." Bulma argued. "If you are revealed in your disguise, it'll cause nothing short of a disaster. People will assume that Capsule Corporation is working with you in your terrorist strikes, and then there will be a full-scale riot going on. Not to mention it'll bankrupt CC. I think it's best if you stay just outside of the area, disguised as Saiyaman. It wouldn't be so strange for Saiyaman to keep an eye on so important an event, and should your cover be blown, we can always think of a new way to salvage it. It has the smallest risk factor."

Gohan was silent for a few second then tapped something on the screen. His picture was uncoupled from the three Briefs and stayed unconnected.

"I think that's a good idea, if Saiyaman manages to interfere and stop the assassination, it'll give him a large boost in popularity also. And that means a moral boost for the entire planet. Now, as for the others…"

Pictures of the individual Z-fighters appeared, scattered across the screen and unconnected. Piccolo's picture was far removed from the others, but nothing else hinted at something being different.

"The rest of you are to blend into the crowd, most of you aren't internationally famous enough to get recognized and I'm sure even super baseball star Yamcha can find a way to stay in the crowd without setting off all sorts of alarm bells. Piccolo can't stay hidden in the crowd for obvious reasons, so I'd like you to stay directly above the event, hiding in the clouds and ready to act at a second's notice."

Piccolo gave an acknowledging nod, as he looked over the screen.

"That's just our starting positions. As soon as the battle starts, we all have to keep to certain tasks. Piccolo, Vegeta and I will be the main fighting force, with #18 as direct backup. Tien and Krillin form the second backup unit. Yamcha, Tien, Chiaotzu will focus on protectingand evacuating the civilians. That's also were Bulma and Grandpa come in. Use your authority with members of the Seventy-Seven Rulers to take control of the situation and try to keep panic to a minimum. Yamcha, Tien and Chiaotzu will focus mostly on keeping the crowds save from any stray energy blasts or debris from our fights."

"What do we have to do?!" Trunks and Goten simultaneously piped up, "Do we have to help you guys out with the fighting, or maybe attack them in the back or something?" Goten continued, obviously getting excited at the idea.

"Nothing of the sort," Gohan immediately said. "Trunks, your task is to ensure your mother's safety, as well as anyone else in the direct surroundings, when your father fights off the initial charge against the king. Assist Yamcha, Tien and Chiaotzu and do as they tell you, keeping everyone save. Goten, your mission is to stay at the mansion and guard it. Unless Nahog goes himself, or sends the Vegeta clone, you should be able to fend for yourself long enough for one of us to arrive. Do not, under any circumstance, enter the battlefield!"

"WHAAT!" The two troublemakers immediately shouted, looking both disappointed and disgruntled. "But we can fight! We want to fight!" They immediately argued.

"No arguing! You are not to engage in any fighting whatsoever, unless you're attacked first, do you two understand!?" Gohan almost shouted, apparently losing his temper. Seeing this rare occurrence, Goten immediately stopped protesting, though he still looked displeased, while Trunks was silenced a second later by a glare from his father.

"Trunks, in battle it is considered your duty to follow the orders given, otherwise you may well be the downfall of the entire strategy. Do as he says." Vegeta's agreement stunned everyone for a second, before Gohan continued. Behind him, on the screen, Trunks and Goten's pictures were separated from the others to indicate their removal from the fight.

"Vegeta and I will try to fight our own clones, since they're probably the strongest. Unless Nahog took the risk of creating a second clone of either of us – which would add a liability – Piccolo should be able to handle them. And with #18 joining in as soon as she's got a clear angle, it should work out."

From there on Gohan continued to explain some details about the fighting and immediate area, dangerous terrains they should try to avoid when fighting and more. Goten and Trunks didn't hear any of it, because they were still seething at being removed from all the action.

XxX

Nahog tried to turn in his bed, but found that he couldn't. If he moved, he would disturb the beautiful form that was sleeping at his side and he definitely didn't want that. Heavens know she already barely got any sleep this night, although for once he hadn't had anything to do with it. So he stayed in the position he was, lying on his back when he preferred to be on his side, and let his mind run it's course.

'_Only three days until the summit. By now Gohan is probably preparing his friends to meet me in combat there. And I can't focus on creating new plans yet, until I'm sure the others will assist me._' This was what vexed him the most. He had little doubt that two of the clones would help him without question – just like the original Bulma and Trunks would help Gohan without a second's hesitation – but it was Vegeta's clone that he wasn't sure of. And that one was crucial to his plans. Again, Nahog's eyes drifted to the woman at his side.

Levid, she had called herself. With the temper and ferociousness in bed that she had shown, he thought the name well-chosen, so close to the word livid. Yet she was, as he had known, kind and loving, truly the one woman he would remain loyal to.

And therefore the perfect victim for Church to use as an example to keep Nahog in line. Yesterday Levid had spent almost the entire evening, and most of the afternoon, with severe stomach cramps, indigestion and diarrhea. Obvious signs of slight poisoning, especially since the pains and problems had stopped some hours after she had stopped eating. Of course, Nahog kept his suspicions silent for now. If Levid would know what Church did… Nahog didn't want to be held responsible for the consequences.

Slowly, Levid woke from her sleep and opened her eyes, at first cuddling a bit closer to Nahog, her waist-length black hair covering both of them. Then she remembered what day today was and slowly – and reluctantly – got out of bed, allowing the both of them to get dressed.

Nahog dressed in his research clothing, black pants and shirt, covered with the traditional white lab coat, while Levid wore some jeans and a loose shirt, the first clothing that she could find. Who cared about getting dressed up; she just wanted to take it easy when dressing.

The two of them then proceeded to the cloning chamber. Today was the day that Nahog's plans would reach a crucial point; getting Vegeta to cooperate.

Not ten minutes later, the researchers had drained the remaining fluids from all three tubes and lifted the glass, mere seconds before the cloned Briefs family began to wake up.

Bulma woke first, looking surprised at being naked and having hair that was well over twice as long as she was tall. It did a nice job of covering her up, but her mind was racing. How had she gotten here, where was here… and what had happened to Trunks, after they had been cornered by Nahog? No, no wait… it was Gohan who had cornered them… Gohan had gone crazy after learning he was soon going to die… and Nahog was the only one who had managed to save her… that was what had happened wasn't it? The memories were so, so vague – like they weren't hers, or like they'd happened so long ago she'd almost forgotten.

Trunks woke next and like his mother his entire body was covered by the mass of hair, in his case purple. Slowly standing up, he cautiously moved the hair away so he could look at his own body. What he saw shocked him, surprised him and immediately let him know why he was feeling so disoriented.

His body had aged ten years since he last remembered.

The now eighteen year old Trunks looked around, seeing Nahog standing there… but wasn't Nahog supposed to be much taller then Trunks? Trunks literally had to look down to look at the older clone. Trunks' hands were far bigger then he had remembered; his arms more muscular, what on earth was going on? And what about Goten? Did he also age like this? What had Trunks missed? No wait, Goten… Goten hadn't been around, had he? He had! Goten had helped Gohan when he was attacked, striking Trunks in the back!

Or had he?

It all didn't make sense to Trunks, why were his memories so vague? But most importantly, why was his body so... odd... so out of touch… so different then he remembered it.

Vegeta was the last to wake and, true to his saiyan heritage, his hair was exactly the same as it had been all his life; the gravity-defying flame of hair was still intact, along with Vegeta's ever-present scowl. Like the others, his memories were messy, disrupted.

The last thing he remembered was being in a fight with the brat. Or was it the brat's clone? Either way, he had been dominating the fight, much as he had expected, since the brat was so weak, so lazy for years on end. There was blinding pain, the brat still had a touch of his old ability to fight, making the Saiyan Prince cry out in pain… and that's when everything blacked out for him. No wait… he remembered something. The brat had learned something about himself, something that tormented him, drove him to the edge. What had it been? The disease! Of course, the brat had learned he was soon going to die and that thought had changed him. His powers… they'd grown because of it, the disease strengthening him before killing him. They'd fought, because he was the only one who could match his power.

But why in the name of Sacred Battle was he here? Where was here?

Bulma! Trunks! What'd happened to them? They were near him when he fought against the brat, were they safe?!

All three clones looked around, all highly confused, but they seemed to recognize each other, stood up – with Trunks falling twice before he finally stood – and stepped closer to each other. At this point Nahog stepped forward, preventing this from becoming too touching a family moment.

"I'm sorry for the rough awakenings, but I had no other alternatives." He started, drawing the attention of the three naked forms. Bulma pushed her face through her hair, careful to let it cover the rest of her body, while Trunks looked highly annoyed with his hair and tried to keep it to the sides with his arms.

"What's going on here?" 'Vegeta' immediately asked, not caring about his modesty as he glared at Nahog.

"I'm sorry I had to resort to this, but I had no other alternatives." Nahog explained, preparing to tell the lie he had so carefully crafted into their memories. "I'm not sure how much you remember, but the basics come down to this; Gohan, my original, had somehow become infected with a strange virus, a variation of cancer. It altered his brain, changing his personality and making him a madman, while also giving him the power of telepathy. I was created as a countermeasure, the one opponent that could match Gohan in power and brains. However, he used his telepathy to take control over your originals and his other friends, turning them all to his cause. Activating the failsafe we had agreed upon, I activated an emergency-cloning program to create you three. I cannot defeat all the others on my own; I need your help in this."

The three Briefs looked at each other, silently communicating as they thought everything over. Finally, 'Bulma' stepped forward, speaking for the three of them.

"You might be right, Nahog, I remember something about Gohan going crazy, but my memories are all fuzzy. It's… confusing. We'll think about this for a bit longer today, and meet with you in the evening to let our decision be known. In the meantime, we'll go freshen up, get ready for the day and whatnot."

"Sure thing," Nahog agreed, smiling at her. "I've had rooms prepared for each of you, with clothing already in there. Someone will come in to see you within the hour to give you two a haircut, after that you're free to go. Yours is the second down the hall, on the left."

"Great, we'll see you tonight around eight?" 'Bulma' suggested, hardly hearing Nahog's response as she quickly steered Vegeta away and to their bedroom.

Nahog turned around, facing the teenage form of Trunks, who obviously had difficulty even walking, not used to the length of his own body. Instead, he sat down on the floor and kept looking at different parts of his own body.

"Trunks, go to your room, get dressed and try to get used to your body. I'm sorry I had to accelerate your growth in so unnaturally a manner, but I had little choice. We'll spend the next couple of days to allow you to get used to moving around, but knowing you you'll pick it up in no time."

Leaving behind a beaming Trunks – who was more then simply pleased with the compliment – Nahog left the room and accompanied Levid back to their room. So far, it had gone well. 'Vegeta' hadn't blown them all to the Otherworld yet, which meant his memory manipulation was successful. Now, he had to hope that his reasons for attacking the World King would take root with them.

In the cloning room, Trunks was getting annoyed by his girlishly-long hair and roughly cut parts of it off with his energy, covering the ground in a mass of purple hair. Going to his room, the suddenly teenage half-Saiyan quickly got dressed before flying off. His hair was shorter, but he still needed a haircut. Besides that, he wanted to go and play outside. No-one had said he wasn't allowed to do that.

With a grin, Trunks flew out of the building, easily preventing any humans from seeing him.

XxX

It was a nice, warm and sunny day in Satan City, which had given Erasa the idea to ask Videl and Sharpener to go and hang out all day long. Not having school, training or work today, they had both agreed, eager to spend some time with friends again.

All three had abandoned coats and jackets and were currently enjoying an ice-cream, to which Sharpener had treated them on the way to the park. All along the way, the trio had been talking about one thing only; The World King Summit. Videl had also been invited, along with her father, and just like everyone else in the world the subject was highly interesting for the teens.

"So, like, you're going to meet the actual kings and queens and stuff?" Erasa asked for the third time. "That sounds so awesome! Do you think you can take a picture with all of them? Are you sure you can't sneak me in as well, I'd love to see the inside of the King's palace…"

"Erasa, we know by now that you're excited about it, ok." Sharpener said, licking his ice-cream. "But Videl already said you can't come along. She's allowed to bring a bodyguard if she wants, and you definitely don't look like one. I'm more interested in what kind of solutions they're going to come up with."

"Well, we already know the problem that they're going to discuss." Videl grumbled, finishing up her ice-cream. "But how are you going to deal with someone like him? The only ways I can think of are finding out where he's staying and nuke the place, poison his food or let him and Saiyaman duke it out. Not sure who'd win in that little matchup."

"Saiyaman, definitely-ough" Erasa fell to the floor, having bumped into a tall, muscular young man, about their own age. Having not paid any attention, the bubbly blonde hadn't seen the man exit the barber's shop they'd passed by, and he obviously hadn't been very alert either.

The purple-haired teen stumbled as well, almost falling after Erasa had bumped into him, but the odd thing was just how long he had to correct himself. It looked almost like the teen was constantly tripping over his own feet. If the smell of alcohol hadn't been completely absent, the young man would have immediately been dubbed as drunk.

The odd display did give them plenty of time to observe him. He was quite attractive, but most of all he was very muscular. His arms were even bigger then Sharpeners! To make the comparison to the blond even worse, he also had shoulder-length hair that he let fall to his shoulders, just like their friend, although his arched up a little bit before coming down.

Stabilizing himself at last, the teen apologized to Erasa and awkwardly extended his hand to help her up. Unfortunately, he was almost three steps removed from the blond when he did so, making him seem even more awkward. Stepping forward, he did manage to help the blond girl up.

Unfortunately, as he did so, the clumsy man tripped again, falling to the ground himself, and somehow managed to tangle himself and Erasa up enough to flip them around, making the attractive blond lay on top of him, an amused grin on her face.

"What's up, Handsome?" She joked, "You're quick; normally I don't lie next to my dates on our first meeting."

The clumsy man blushed to the roots of his hair, his entire face becoming bright red. Sharpener helped Erasa to her feet who was having a laughing fit, and then offered his hand to the teen. Sharpener knew very well what sort of effect Erasa could have on males.

Taking the hand, the still-red teen managed to get up on his feet but before anyone could say anything – including Erasa apologizing for making the joke which was rather cruel in hindsight – the man turned around and ran away. Along the way, he did manage to bump into a lantern, a trashcan and almost knock someone else over, but he managed to keep himself from falling.

"Too bad," Erasa sighed when he was gone. "He was a bit clumsy, but other then that… he was pretty hot. Come to think of it, the clumsy thing also made him quiet cute."

"Yeah, well, if you hadn't mocked the guy for being clumsy, he might not have run away. It's your own fault." Sharpener replied, earning agreeing nods from Videl, before the three teens continued on their way.

XxX

That night, Nahog found himself sitting next to Levid on a loveseat, while he faced the two Briefs. Bulma and Trunks sat down on the other couch, while Vegeta preferred to lean back against the wall behind them.

'Trunks' had taken the image of his adult counterpart after having his shoulder-length hair held back in a ponytail, and wearing simular black cargo pants, a wife-beater and easy jacket.

'Bulma', on the other hand, had sported a hairstyle Nahog couldn't remember her ever having, but there was no way to stay sure; Bulma changed hairstyles more often then Gohan changed socks. And Gohan never wore the same socks twice. Her hair reached halfway to her back, being slightly curled as well. Her clothing was nothing really special. A cream-colored dress that reached to her knees, couples with high heels. Overall, she looked high-class, but not too much.

And, much like could have been expected; 'Vegeta' had ignored what anyone would think of him, wearing a sweater and sweatpants. Comfort and ability to train over fashion, definitely a Vegeta-style statement.

"First off, allow me to introduce you all." Nahog started after the sixth time 'Trunks' had glanced over at Levid. "You all know me, my name's Nahog and I'm Gohan's clone. This is Levid, the clone of Videl, who I made because the real Videl has also been enchanted by Gohan's newfound ability. Levid, meet the clones of Vegeta, Bulma and Trunks Briefs."

"Mind explaining the situation a bit more in-depth?" 'Vegeta' asked; his voice surprisingly calm. "You gave a brief explanation this morning, but I'd like to hear a bit more about it."

"Yeah, and why am I a teenager? I can't remember anything past being eight!" Trunks asked, still uncomfortable with his own body.

"Allow me to start at the beginning." Nahog said. "Like I said this morning, Gohan got infected by a virus, which changed him to the degree of being a threat to us all. I was created as a safety precaution, with DNA being taken from you three in case you were needed, should the worst happen. After you gave me the instructions, you wiped your own memories out with a machine that Bulma created, so Gohan wouldn't find out about this last resort. He knows I exist, but nothing more then that. That gives us an advantage, although he still outnumbers us."

"And why would you need us?" Vegeta insisted.

"Because the original versions of you have joined with Gohan, which means I wouldn't stand a chance against their combined might. I needed to create you three so I could even the odds a bit more. His mind control is subtle, allowing his subjects to keep their free will while they are without a doubt under Gohan's control. So should you encounter them; expect them to attack you without warning."

"You still didn't say why Trunks' body has aged to becoming a teenager." Bulma interrupted.

"I know, and I wish I wouldn't have to age him like this, but it was necessary. I held Trunks' clone in the tubes for the time it took to age him to an adult body, instead of the 8-year old that he was. With his age, his power would also increase and without his power, we couldn't win. That's why he's a teenager, although he can't control his own body very well. We can't stand against Gohan and the others without an adult Trunks around."

"This is getting confusing." 'Trunks' said, rubbing his temples but nearly poking his own eyes out. "If we keep the same names as the originals, we'll get confused as hell. Mom, dad, don't you think we should also change our names, just so we can keep things clear when talking about the others?"

"Ah, I was hoping you'd say that." 'Bulma' almost cheered, "You see, I reached the same conclusion and took the liberty of thinking up new names for us. Of course, we'll only keep them until we're done with this business."

"Well, out with it woman, what names did you conjure up?" 'Vegeta' sounded agitated, but that was because he already knew the new name his wife had thought up for him. He hadn't thought the joke that funny.

"Well, Vegeta, your new name is Furuti, Trunks is going to be called Tapara and my new name will be Ropa."

"O-k." Nahog was taken aback a bit by the enthusiasm 'Bulma' – now re-named Ropa – displayed. She almost acted like everything was a game, a bit different from the serious and business-oriented original Bulma he remembered. Then again, Nahog realized that he might be Gohan's clone, but that didn't mean his personality was the same. Or maybe this was just part of her younger self re-appearing.

"Well, let's continue on to what I was explaining." Nahog tried to restore order, while the newly named Tapara tried his name by saying it a few times. When the purple-haired teen stopped, Nahog continued.

"You may realize that you have no memories or anything while inside the cloning tube. That's because I kept all four of you in an almost comatose-like state while you were growing, preventing your cognitive brain from noticing anything about you. No surroundings, internal feedback, nothing. Trust me; you don't want the same experience I've been through. It's really quite traumatic to wake up suddenly with the mind of an adult, while your body is unable to move, is much smaller then you remember and nothing works the way it's supposed to."

"Hmph; whatever." Furuti – a seething look, courtesy of his now constantly giggling wife on his face – roughly intruded. "What's the plan for dealing with the originals? Because I assume that, since we're outnumbered and our enemies are no simple pushovers, we'll need a plan of some sort."

Again Nahog was shocked, by Vegeta's – no wait, Furuti's – open admission that the other Z-fighters might pose a problem, however minor. Maybe the clones weren't completely the same as the original after all.

Or maybe Vegeta – the original – did have some manner of respect for the others, but just refused to show it.

"Well, here's what I had in mind as a plan of action." Nahog started as he walked to the wall. With the press of a button, a wall disappeared and instead, a huge screen was shown.

"As you may have heard Renard Furry, the World King, is holding a summit the day after tommorow. Your originals – just to keep the terminology clear – are invited, and I'm positive they'll cause a lot of havoc. Aside from that, I've also got reason to believe that Gohan may already have extended his control to some of the rulers, so be careful. We'll hit them with a preemptive strike to gain the advantage and keep the pressure on them from there. Yes Tru- ehm, Tapara?"

The awkward teen had raised a hand, looking sheepish.

"What's terminology?"

XxX

Videl shifted uncomfortably in her seat, knowing cameras of every news channel in the world were focused on her, her father, and the other people who had gathered here.

It was finally the day of the summit and the weather was nice enough to allow the opening reception to be held outside, in a field outside of the King's Tower Palace. Tower Palace itself certainly gave credit to it's name; it was an absolutely huge castle, containing no less then ninety different pillars, the smallest one being only several foot above the 3-story high wall, while the highest tower was almost disappearing into the clouds.

A few seats to Videl's right, Bulma Briefs gave her son – a young child who already gave Videl the impression that he was a smart-ass troublemaker, but not a bad child at heart – a stern look as he was trying to stand up from his seat. It was the first time she had ever met Bulma Briefs face-to-face and she was exactly as the rumors always said; a beautiful woman to look at, nice to chat with, but best to stay at fifty feet distance from because of her very protective husband.

Of course, it wasn't Bulma's husband alone that was sending shivers down Videl's spine, making her so uncomfortable. Every single one of the Ruling Seventy Seven had brought at least one bodyguard of his-, her- or itself. Overall, they all gave Videl the impression of strong, experienced fighters. Even the miniature, fox-like assistant of the pompous Emperor Paluf managed to give off a vibe that clearly said 'you do not want to mess with me'.

There were, however, three that stood out above the others in drawing Videl's attention. The Ox King – who was known to have been a powerful, almost peerless, fighter in his youth – had brought a very small man as his bodyguard, but something about his entire attitude showed Videl that this charming and laughing man could very easily turn into a deadly fighter.

Emperor Chiaotzu has brought one of the most intimidating bodyguards of the entire group; a very tall, bald and scarred man called Tien. His muscles, scars and constant level of alertness made sure everyone knew this was a veteran who had seen his fair share of action, but was more then capable of making anyone who threatened his charge pay for it. Of course, the third eye he had certainly helped him keep a look on his surroundings and intimidate anyone who came close.

The Briefs' bodyguard – who they said they had hired since their home had been destroyed – was no doubt one of the most mysterious present. Almost as tall as Tien, he was covered completely in black clothing and armor plates to prevent anything from his identity showing. He wore black army boots, followed by loose black cargo pants to allow easy movement, a black torso-armor and – to cover it all up – a black trench coat, which no doubt served to add to his image, as much as hide weaponry or confuse his enemies in a fight. A pitch-black motorcycle helmet covered his face, preventing anyone from looking around.

One by one the rulers and special guests were allowed into the castle, but not before each and every bodyguard submitted every weapon they carried on them, handing them to the World King's security force for safekeeping. After almost an hour, they had all gathered in the broadest of the towers, styled like most twenty-century conference rooms. There was a centre stage, where the World King was currently standing, and more then enough seats for all the guests and their bodyguards to sit in the room, able to listen closely to what was going to be said.

As one of the special guests, Videl and her father sat in the front row, with the Briefs family and their masked protector sitting in the block next to them. Videl was still suspicious of the man, the bodyguard had carried two ridiculously big handguns on him that he had turned in, but no other weapons had been surrendered.

Videl turned her head to the stage as King Furry tested the microphone, immediately silencing the entire room, and listened as the dog spoke in his warm, comforting voice.

"Welcome all, and we must say that it's a shame we must all meet under such dreadful circumstances. But the world will not wait, nor allow us to meet for small pleasures as much as we would like. So, now, we as the rulers of the world must discuss how to act with the problems at hand. Let us talk, think and decide together, as we have always done at times of great need. Let the World Summit, commence."

* * *

Much thanks to my beta Kushin eX for going over this chapter.

Next chapter all hell will break loose, so look forward to it.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: don't own the DBZ universe or anything related to it.

to keep things easy to remember for you, here are the clone names:

Gohan – Nahog  
Videl – Levid  
Vegeta – Furuti  
Trunks – Tapara  
Bulma – Ropa

* * *

The first two hours of the summit where, in Videl's eyes, dreadfully dull. In order to ensure that everyone knew the basics – which would have been impossible to not know by now – King Furry had insisted on having several experts come up and give reports, details and other verbal explanations of what had happened. In Videl's opinion, the point could have been given just as clearly by showing a few two-minute video's, but who was she to argue with the World's political leaders?

So, she killed time by making faces at Bulma Briefs' 8-year old son, the only other person in the room who looked equally bored. Highly inappropriate, she knew, but still fun. And he even started it, making a sour face at her when they locked eyes.

"And now, I would like to ask my special guests at this summit, Mrs. Bulma Briefs and Mr. Hercule Satan to come forth and give their own accounts of the attacks they have suffered through."

Before either the Satan or Briefs family could stand up, someone in the back stood up and indicated he wished to speak.

"Yes, Duke Raven?" The King asked, not showing any surprise at the intrusion.

"My Lord, with your permission, I would ask a question that weighs heavily on my mind and, if I may presume to speak for others present, other's minds as well."

"Speak then, Duke Raven, and ask your question."

"Thanks you, Your Majesty." Raven now stood up fully and immediately he spoke up. "My fellow Lords and Ladies of around the globe, as you know, no man, woman or child is born without family, even if it is no more then a mother to bear birth before dying. The same so holds true for this Gohan Son. Should we allow the members of his family to stand between us, to stand in a place of power when there is such instability in their family? It is for this reason, I wish to ask the council to take the seat of the Ox King into question."

Instantly sounds filled the room, as the rulers present immediately started to talk amongst each other about this.

"Silence, if you would please." The King's commanding but not unpleasant voice sounded through the speakers again. "Duke Raven, please explain why you would have the counsel think on this."

"As I am sure many others have done before coming here, I too learned as much as I could of this Gohan." Even from her distant seat, Videl could have sworn she saw an almost smug look on the birdman's face. "As such I have learned that Gohan is the son of the former world champion of martial arts Goku Son and the Royal Princess of the Ox Kingdom, Milady Chichi Son née Ox, who is the only child of the Ox King. This makes the terrorist whom we are here to discuss the direct descendant of the Ox King. Therefore, I belief his claims on this matter cannot be trusted and I wish for the rest of the counsel to discuss whether or not he be allowed to remain amongst us."

At once all heads turned to the Ox King, as the massive figure also stood up from his chair and – after asking permission to speak – let his voice boom through the room without help of the speakers.

"Your Majesty, my fellow Lords and Ladies and our honored guests, what Duke Raven says is true; Gohan is my grandson. However, it is for this very reason I stand before you. never once have I hid this fact from you, nor will I deny it, for it is truth. Yet with my grandson becoming the enemy of the world, I have all the more reason to be present here. The crimes that have been committed are inexcusable, by law and conscious alike. I will not plead for innocence, not reduction of punishment. But I am here to ensure that those of you who have suffered personal losses at his hands do not let your emotions overrule you.

"Never have I taken a hand in my Grandson's raising or education, for I never had any intention of letting the title of Ox King remain in my family after my reign. The only explanation for his behavior I have is this; since when Gohan was but a boy, he has suffered a multitude of mental trauma's. it is not an excuse but an explanation, for that is why I am here.

"I am here to ensure that, when we meet, we meet for justice; that when we punish, we uphold and conserve the laws that exist and when we speak, our voices carry wisdom and not angry memories or hateful feelings."

With a deep bow to King Furry and a nod of his head to the rest of the room the Ox King sat down. Videl couldn't help but feel impressed by the giant; he had to sit here and condemned his own family, listen to the foul deeds he had done, and much more. It required a sort of courage Videl wasn't familiar with. A sort of courage she never, ever wanted to have to experience herself. She also saw that the bodyguard that the Briefs family had brought along observed the entire exchange with increase uncomfortably. She couldn't be sure, but it looked like his shoulders kept tensing up more and more. Again, the young detective wondered who it was beneath the helmet.

"The Ox King has supplied to us his reason for presence." King Furry said, looking around the room as gossip again broke out. "Now, members of the Counsel of Rulers, I ask you; will we vote on Duke Raven's request, to see Ox King removed from this counsel?"

With few exceptions, all the voting lights indicated red, a negative. The World King quickly continued his former agenda, calling the Briefs and Satan families forth. With a sigh, Videl followed her father and walked over to the King.

XxX

"Ah man, I am so freaking BORED!" Levid shouted as she lay on her back in the bed she shared with Nahog. Along with Furuti, Tapara and Ropa Nahog had left earlier that morning, while giving Levid clear instructions not to leave. As such, she was left alone in the secret lab, with a group of some twelve or so others who didn't dare get close to her. Since the only thing on TV was that damn boring World Summit and there were no interesting books to read, this left Levid with very little to keep her busy.

Not for the first time, Levid considered just throwing Nahog's instructions out the window and flying after him, but his voice sounded clear through her head every time.

"**No Levid, you can not join this fight! Every single one of the Z-fighters is going to be there and until you manage to fully control your abilities, you're no match for any of them. Please, stay hidden here and make sure no-one outside discovers you. You're the unknown factor in our plan, the one thing Gohan doesn't know about. When we meet him in the final battle, you'll be the ace up our sleeve. So please, just this once, stay here, be bored and wait for our return.**"

Everything about his reason made complete sense and she couldn't fault him for it, but Levid was just so bored, wasn't there anything she co-

Suddenly Levid shot up, a smirk on her face. There was something she could do…

Levid quickly got out of bed, got changed into a common t-shirt, complete with ordinary jeans, and tied her hair into a ponytail. Even so bound, her hair almost reached her butt, but she didn't mind. She enjoyed the long hair.

With a grin on her face, Levid moved straight through the walls of Nahog's lab, appeared on the other side and quickly blended in with the crowd. There was one location she could go to, a critical place of the enemy that was virtually unprotected now.

XxX

"Honestly, do you ever stop eating?" Erasa asked as Sharpener bought a hamburger at a nearby stand. So far, the muscular blond had devoured two large servings of popcorn, a bag of French fries, two hotdogs, three extra large cokes, a pack of cookies and a bagel. Erasa was surprised the somewhat vein male hadn't burst yet.

"Hey, there's nothing else to do on this island but walk around and look at stands while listening to extremely dull conversations broadcasted on the screens. And since we've been walking around here for over six hours, I think I'm allowed a few snacks."

"A few snacks, sure, but you've devoured more food then I eat in a week!"

"None of this stuff is very filling and besides, it all smells great. Smell makes a man hungry, you know."

"How would I know, when I don't know any men."

"Oh ha-ha, very funny." Just as Sharpener took a bit out of his burger, Erasa let out a gasp. "What? What's up?"

"Look over there!" Erasa was nearly giddy with joy as she jumped up and down, pointing in a direction. It took Sharpener a few seconds to look at what she was pointing, but then he saw it as well; standing in the crowds and only identifiable by his odd hair color stood the purple-haired teen that had bumped into Erasa some days ago. Like the crowd he was standing in, he was looking at the huge screen that displayed the debate being held by the political world top.

At least, that was what Sharpener had THOUGHT he'd seen. one second he saw the purple-haired teen standing, then someone walked by – interrupting Sharpener's line of sight for a second – and the teen was gone.

Apparently Erasa had suffered through the same, because she suddenly said, "Hey, where'd he go? Come on, let's go look for him."

"Maybe you were just seeing things?" Sharpener tried, hoping to lure her away from the idea of chasing a vanished person. Unfortunately, Erasa was much like Videl in this regard; grabbing Sharpener's hand, she dragged him straight across the street and immediately went in pursuit of the boy. No-body THAT cute escaped her twice.

XxX

Still bored beyond imagining, Videl had now taken to staring out of the window, without actually seeing anything. at least it stopped her father and Bulma's husband from giving her and the eight-year-old 'The Evil Eye of Fatherhood' to stop them making faces. A sudden bright light outside caught Videl's eye and as she turned her head she realized it was the sun setting. They'd been in this meeting for over ten hours straight so far, with only two half-hour breaks.

The round-about political talks, endless discussions about the same thing and often emotionless voices that she had heard, had put Videl close to falling asleep. Her eyes were just about to close when something else caught her attention, surprising her enough to shock her awake again.

Several bodyguards, the two male members of the Briefs family and one of the smaller lords in attendance – Emperor Chiaotzu if she recalled correctly – suddenly shot up, their heads all locked in the same direction.

Before anyone could even make a sound to question what was going on, the wall they were all looking at suddenly exploded. Instinctively, Videl covered her head with her arms, but aside from the blinding light and almost deafening noise, nothing happened. Looking up, she saw the same people who had looked surprised stand before the college of politicians.

Bulma's husband stood in front of them, his neat shirt already abandoned to show a muscular body that was covered in small scars, the souvenirs of hundreds of hard-fought battles. Both of his hands were outstretched in front of him, like he had just caught something.

The Ox King's bodyguard Krillin, Emperor Chiaotzu and his bodyguard Tien had all jumped forward, striking similar poses to the flame-haired man, and a shimmer of light could be seen covering the politicians.

Bulma's son stood some distance behind his father, his arms still around King Furry's middle as he had hauled the monarch a good five meters in the split second before the explosion. He stood in front of his mother as well, a mixed look of determination and fear on his face as he looked into the smoke.

Before Videl and her father stood the bodyguard that had belonged to the Briefs family, a masked man with a long coat who had previously wielded two guns. Like the bodyguards protecting the Seventy-Seven Rulers, he too had a slight shimmer about him.

Still partially blinded by the sudden flash of light, Videl couldn't see any of the details but there was definitely a large figure stepping through the hole in the wall, with a second figure right behind him.

"Oh dear, you were all here?" A familiar voice sounded, taunting and immediately bringing up tremor-inducing memories of painful killings to Videl's mind. "I guess I should have anticipated and prepared for that… oh wait, I did!"

Blinking furiously, Videl's fears were confirmed; Nahog stood in the large hole – no doubt created by him as well – and he was staring down at the group of bodyguards and other impromptu warriors that stood before the group of rulers. Some distance behind the murder lunatic stood the second figure, but he was mostly hidden by smoke, making it difficult for Videl to see who it was. Still, there was something familiar about him, thought Videl couldn't place it.

"Trunks!" The commanding voice of Mr. Briefs – for lack of a better name, because Videl had no idea how the short man was called – sounded, his eyes never leaving the two new arrivals. "You know what to do, get your mother and the King out of here!"

The purple-haired boy gave a nod and instantly disappeared, along with his mother and King Furry. Videl double-checked to make sure she wasn't seeing things, but the little boy really did disappear.

Videl glanced over het shoulder, to see if maybe they were standing there, but they weren't there either. She did get a clear look of all the warriors who had reacted. Every single one of the bodyguards she had singled out earlier had jumped up, along with Emperor Chiaotzu himself. Never before had Videl imagined that a small, three-foot tall, make-up wearing man who looked like a porcelain doll could be so intimidating and impressive with nothing but a facial expression.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?" Mr. Briefs questioned, making Videl snap her head back. He was looking at the person who had joined Gohan, and now Videl realized what had seen so familiar; the unknown man had the exact same, unique hairstyle as Mr. Briefs.

"So, another abomination appears. Time to take out the trash." Mr. Briefs took on a fighting stance, glaring at the two men before him. A warning died on Videl's lips as she somehow felt that, despite his small stature, this man could fight Gohan on an even level.

Speaking of Gohan, the teen terrorist now had his eyes locked on the masked fighter standing before Videl and her father, a look that could only be explained as smugness on his face.

"I knew it, you just couldn't resist it, could you?" Gohan slowly turned a bit, making sure not to give an unneeded opening to Mr. Briefs – another piece of evidence that the flame-haired man was a threat, since he had displayed no such caution against Hercule's students – and then stepped closer to the masked fighter.

"You are so easy to predict, you never even attempt to leave something to the others. I know you, like no-one else does. I know how you think, I know how you feel and most importantly of all; I know how you'll act. You can't defeat me and you know it. So, let's make this quick. You die now."

"GO!" Mr Briefs shouted as both he and the other flame-haired figure disappeared. At the same time an explosion of sound occurred without any viable source as far as Videl could see. Gohan and the masked fighter were still staring at each other, neither one moving as they stood in fighting stances. Looking over her shoulder again, Videl saw the bodyguards disappearing for a second. A bit later, the seventy-seven rulers started to disappear in the same fashion by three or four at a time.

'_It's some sort of teleportation._' Videl realized as she watched. '_They teleport them out of here! But how do they do it?_'

Before Videl could try to see more of the odd teleportation, Hercule placed his broad hand on her shoulder and slowly pulled her back. Following her father's lead, Videl slowly edged back, never taking her eyes of the two figures.

"Well, enough standing and staring. Let's go." Gohan exclaimed. The next instant, another explosion of sound and wind occurred near Videl and Hercule, knocking both of them back, as both Gohan and the Briefs family bodyguard disappeared. An instant later a strong arm grabbed Videl around her waist and the girl looked up just in time to see the bald, three-eyed bodyguard of Emperor Chiaotzu grab her before she disappeared as well.

XxX

The Commander, a mission codename chosen by Trunks, quickly closed the distance on Nahog and attacked. The clone quickly jumped back to evade it, but the Commander was hot on his tail, three more punches hitting the half-saiyan's guard, before a kick forced him back. Using the instant of distance, Nahog lashed out with his own leg, gaining the offensive and immediately rushing forward.

The Commander answered in kind, the two superhuman fighters going at each other almost equally. Moving too fast for anyone else to see, the only thing the normal humans noticed of the fights were the rapid explosions of sound and wind as the two warriors landed, parried or blocked punches strong enough to crush mountains.

"Is this it?" Nahog taunted in the middle of another exchange. "This is all that you can come up with in your rage?" Every word was powered by another hit crushing on the Commander's defenses, forcing him back one step at a time.

"You lose yourself to your rage and become this weak? What happened to the all-powerful warrior who was consumed by anger and hatred? What happened to the boy who brought Frieza crashing to this knees?"

"He grew up." The Commander said back, any intonation or voice lost due to the speakers in the helmet turning his voice almost mechanical. At the same time he charged, his attacks backed by a new source of anger. The sudden burst of speed and power surprised Nahog, who took a hit on the left temple, followed by another on the chin, three knees in the abdomen, a jackhammer punch on the back of his head and finally he was caught between the Commander's elbow and knee, making the clone gasp for breath.

A burst of energy forced the Commander back far enough for Nahog to regain some breathing space, but despite the serious hits he had just taken, the half breed was smiling.

"Into this? Honestly Gohan, I had thought you'd be much stronger then this, anger or not. I'm hardly even trying and you can't seem to inflict any damage on me. Even those punches you threw just now, they were pathetic. Is your desire to protect Videl so great that it made you lose everything, even your power, when she was hurt?" The last bit was added with a strange voice, no longer mocking but actually considerate. Unconsciously, Nahog backed his head a little bit in thought and The Commander took this moment to strike.

"Wolf Fang Fist!"

Before Nahog had a chance to recover himself, the Commander launched a series of high-speed hits with both arms and legs, each of them aimed at a critical area, before finishing it up with a powerful double-handed, energy-boosted palmstrike, sending Nahog flying into the keep of Tower Castle. Instantly the keep erupted into a burst of smoke as Nahog made a large crater, ruining the foundations of the castle.

A very pissed of Nahog shot out of the smoke a second later, murder in his eyes as he closed in on the Commander, who was by then forming a massive ball of energy on one hand. He launched the attack before Nahog had closed even half the distance, making the clone move to the side in evasion.

However, unlike what Nahog had expected, the energy attack adjusted to the adaption with ease, smashing into Nahog's side but not exploding. Nevertheless, the attack did do a considerable amount of damage before it backed off. Nahog launched a small attack of his own to intercept it, but the energy ball split into two and both attacks battered him.

Every time the energy balls attack Nahog, they backed off, never exploding like he anticipated they would. And each time he tried to attack one, it split off into two smaller balls, making it more difficult to defend himself each time. before long, Nahog had to suffer the continuous battering of eight small energy balls.

Instead of putting up a pointless defense by punching of blasting the attacks, Nahog crossed his arms in front of him and raised his energy around him as a shield, protecting him from any attacks. The balls simply floated around outside the barrier, waiting for a weakness to show. Without the immediate threat of attack, Nahog looked around to see where the Commander had gone.

"Kamehame-" a voice sounded from below, as the Commander floated somewhere below Nahog now, his hands cupped at his side in the familiar attack. Gohan tried to rush forward, but the moment he lowered his shield, the eight orbs that were floating around him exploded, temporarily blinding him.

"-ha!"

Immediately the smoke Nahog saw was replaced by blue-and-white light that burned him as the Commander released his attack. Nahog protected himself as best he could, but it was little use against the powerful attack. With no other choice, he transformed, the burst of energy protecting him from most of the damage of the Turtle Hermit's destructive wave as he moved out of the danger zone, small burns on his arms, left leg and chest being the only physical prove of injuries inflicted by the attack. Other then that, Nahog's burned and ruined clothes were another indication.

A second later, Nahog appeared behind the Commander, who stopped the Kamehameha wave and turned around, but Nahog was too quick; with a quick left hook, he crushed the helmet covering the warrior's face, while a knee in the stomach caused him to nearly spit blood.

Nahog pulled the black hair that was now revealed beneath the helmet and pulled it back, smashing his fist straight into the man's face and tearing off the last remains of the helmet in one go.

"So you picked up a few annoying new tricks, you're no match for me! GOHAN!"

As he pulled the hair up a second time, an energy attack ready in his hand to strike, Nahog looked at the now-bloody face bearing heavy scars on both cheeks.

"Sorry, you got the wrong guy!" Yamcha tried to grin, but found he couldn't with his bloody face, so he settled for a head but instead, forcing Nahog's head back a bit. Nahog snapped his head back almost instantly, returning the head but with a vengeance, and readied another energy attack. This was strong enough to kill Yamcha without a doubt, and both men knew it.

Yamcha looked with eyes wide from fear as Nahog moved his hand back, ready to strike with the attack. Then, Nahog moved his arm forward, his eyes never leaving Yamcha's, before his hand came to a sudden stop just before the attack would connect. Nahog, for the split second that Yamcha could see him, looked like he was trying to force himself to do something, but before the former desert bandit could discover what, Nahog was forced back.

Looking up, the pro baseball player saw a familiar red cape appear as Saiyaman forced Nahog further back, raining punches down on his evil counterpart.

XxX

While Nahog was having a duel with The Commander, Vegeta and his own clone were fighting out their own battle. As soon as the two had clashed, both had quickly moved the battle away from the immediate area.

To Vegeta – and, by extension, Furuti – this sort of battle was a first, no matter how many more fights he had experienced; his opponent used the exact same stances, tactics and attacks that he did. Not only that, but every movement was done at equal strength and speed to the real Prince.

As a result, both Vegeta and Furuti could read every movement that was made, blocking, dodging, parrying or attempting to counter every blow. Unfortunately, the two Saiyans also knew every block, dodge, parry or counter that would be used and every way to negate the attacks.

Every time the two battle-hardened warriors broke apart for some breath, they kept looking at each other while flying further up in the atmosphere, always moving the fight further away from the battlefield below. No time or breath was wasted on words as the two veteran warriors returned to their battle.

Explosions of sound rang through the skies, burst of power escaping both warriors with each movement. Since neither had landed a solid hit on the other, they knew this was a fight that would last; it would continue until they were both exhausted and one of the two made a fatal mistake.

And, as if by unspoken agreement, neither Vegeta nor Furuti even attempted to use more then a basic energy blast. Too much power used and, upon evasion, it would either destroy the planet or kill everyone in the castle down below. Neither options was very appealing.

By now, the battle was taking place at some two kilometers height, still a long way removed from the clouds, but high enough to make them nearly invisible to the untrained eye. Again the identical men broke apart, floating around as they regained their breath.

Suddenly a yellow-and-purple beam with spirals circling it crashed down from above Furuti and immediately tore through his right shoulder, before moving out through the Saiyan's back, leaving a hole the size of a beach volleyball.

As Furuti let out a scream of pure rage and pain, Piccolo appeared from above the two fighters, already dropping his cape and tulban as he fired an energy blast from his mouth. Moving to the side, Furutievaded the blast, before returning in kind with his still-functioning left hand.

Neither Vegeta nor Piccolo acknowledged the other, since there was no need. Piccolo shot forward, raining down energy blasts on the now-defensive Furuti, while Vegeta stayed back and gathered his energy for an attack strong enough to destroy his clone.

After a second or so of evading Piccolo's attacks while the Namek kept closing in, Furuti released his left hand from the gapping hole in his shoulder and fired a few blasts back. The attacks were weak, unfocused and poorly aimed, but Piccolo was never one to take chances; evading them, Piccolo finally got a good clear look at his enemy. His eyes grew wide with what he saw.

The flesh that Furuti had lost due to Piccolo's surprise attack was already being restored, the muscles, skin, organs and other tissues around it multiplying themselves at a inhuman rate. At the same time, the cloned Saiyan's powerlevel shot through the roof. Piccolo increased the rate of his assault, knowing he couldn't stand against this foe if he was fully recovered, and shot a multitude of blasts at him.

Furuti merely created a shield of energy to block the attacks, while his body restored itself. When the explosions stopped, he lowered the shield of energy and prepared to counterattack, only to find almost a hundred small but powerful balls of energy floating around.

Before Furuti could react, Piccolo clapped his hands together and yelled "Hellzone Grenade!". Instantly the balls came crashing down on Furuti, before he could do anything to defend himself.

Piccolo was breathing hard as he looked at the huge explosion he had created. As he was still bend over, Furuti suddenly shot forth out of the smoke, burns and small injuries all over his body, as he clotheslined the Super Namek. The green man was stunned from the attack for a second, leaving him open for a follow-up of several punches in the gut, finished up with a large roundhouse kick that send the alien crashing to the ground below.

Turning around, Furuti saw the trademark yellow light of the Final Flash attack coming straight at him, but he easily evade it. The next instant the clone was almost seeing stars as Vegeta, now a super saiyan, smashed his elbow into Furuti's neck.

Piccolo might be removed from this fight, but the real threat still remained. Letting out loud war cries, both Saiyan warriors charged forward.

XxX

As they had agreed upon, Yamcha had turned around to help protect the crowds as soon as Gohan had arrived to take on Nahog. And based on the hatred the two demi-saiyans felt for each other, he sure as hell didn't want to be anywhere near the two when they fought.

However, by now Krillin, Trunks, Tien and Chiaotzu should have already arrived, carrying the Seventy-Seven rulers, King Furry, Bulma and the Satans. Something must have happened to stop them, but the former bandit didn't want to think of what it could be.

Just then, a mental message from Chiaotzu made itself clear in Yamcha's mind.

'_Yamcha, we're being ambushed by someone we can't see!_' The emperor all but shouted with the mindspeech. '_Tien and I are trying to locate the attacker, but whoever it is is using an energy signal we can't place. #18 will look after the other people for a minute, you come over here and help Krillin and Trunks evacuate the Lords._'

'_Hold on, I'm coming over._' He mentally returned. '_Clear the wall!_'

Firing a small, relatively weak blast with on hand, Yamcha broke through one of the walls around the room where the others were, covering the entire room in an almost blinding layer of dust and dirt.

"Go, you guys get out the rulers out of here, I'll deal with this invisible attacker."

At once Chiaotzu, Trunks and Tien flew out of the building, each carrying more then ten of the important politicians. Krillin, who had the remaining leaders piled up on one shoulder, turned to his long-time friend.

"Don't worry Krillin." Yamcha said with confidence as he checked the immediate surrounding. "I've got some experience fighting against invisible enemies, remember?"

"Yeah I do, that why I'm worried." The monk said with some humor as he also moved towards the hole. "This time, Master Roshi and Bulma aren't around. I can't cover your opponent in blood again. Be careful."

"Always."

Krillin also flew out of the hole, while Yamcha kept glancing around the room. Seeing a disturbance in the now-setting cloud of dust somewhere to his left, he charged.

XxX

Like everyone around her, Erasa was laying on the floor, covering her head without being able to see what was going on. One second, everything was just fine, the next a large explosion broke part of the conference room, two figures appeared and just as quickly disappeared. The entire conference room, which was monitored by unmanned, security-like camera's, was empty a second after.

But it was the multitude of explosions, bursts of wind and unexplained destruction that had the crowd really ducking for cover. Since the room was mysteriously emptied out, explosions had sounded all over the compound, without any visible origin and often even without the traditional bang of destruction. It was just a lot of sound happening somewhere, for some reason.

Sharpener was lying half atop of Erasa, shielding the girl from some small pebbles that had flown their way. Looking around, Erasa saw that she had been wrong; not everyone was lying down on the ground. Some thirty meters away, she saw a solitary young man with long, purple hair standing, his eyes moving through the sky, almost like he was watching a tennis ball being bounced around. His head and eyes kept moving around.

It took the bubbly blond a second or two to realize who it was, but when she did she pointed him out to Sharpener, who indicated that the boy was a nutcase for still standing in this chaos.

Nevertheless, he didn't stop Erasa when she crawled out from under him and she started to make her way over to the teen. In fact, he was just a step behind her. The purple-haired young man seemed to radiate an aura of confidence that was inspiring to the others.

Up in the air, the explosions nearby stopped as two figures were now clearly recognizable; one was Gohan, his clothes tattered, burned and torn and many burns and bruises covering his body, while the other was Saiyaman. Like his enemy, Saiyaman was covered in small wounds, but there was nothing really serious.

Just as Erasa closed in and was about to speak up, the purple-haired youth gave out a loud growl as his body exploded into light. The next second, he shot up into the sky and was gone. An instant later, Saiyaman was thrown to the side as the young man appeared in his stead. The superhero had been blindsided and send crashing into the ground.

Again Erasa dropped to her knees, barely keeping her tears back as she saw the more-then-shocking display of superhuman abilities.

"Waah, why do I have to fall for all the super-freaks! Why is it that every boy I like turns out to be a murdering psychopath!" As the blond whined, Sharpener caught up and was quick to pull Erasa back to the ground, while she was still throwing her own lit temper tantrum.

"That's it, from now on, I'm no longer going to fall for boys! They're stupid, idiotic creatures that always seem to want to destroy everything."

Up in the sky, the battle between Saiyaman and the two young terrorist was brought to a halt again, as the purple-haired youth grabbed the superhero from behind, allowing Gohan several free hits.

"I'm turning gay, right now, right here!" She angrily exclaimed. "In fact, I've already found someone I think I'm in love with!"

As she spoke, Erasa looked over at the other end of the crowded area, where a very beautiful young woman, who couldn't have been more then thirty years old, probably younger, also stood proud and tall as she looked at the battle up ahead. Switching to a slight jog, Erasa tried to get close to the woman.

Much like the purple-haired boy before her, this woman had a strong confidence and control, reducing the panic around her by a significant amount. Yet, just like before, when she got near the young woman, she too started to glow a bit, before shooting up into the sky, aiming herself into a colossion course with the boy who had come to Gohan's aid.

She blindsided him before he knew what was going on, but all Erasa could see was the two figures disappearing, before a large burst of dust and dirt indicated another hole being created in the ground.

But Erasa hardly noticed that as now she did really burst into tears.

"Nohoho!" She cried, as Sharpener grabbed her shoulder. "At this rate, I'll end up as a nun!"

XXXxxxXXXxxx

A/N: finally some action in this story¸ next chapter will have a less confusing setup. This chapter is un-beta'd because i was gone so much this month and both my beta and I were far too busy. any and all mistakes in the chapter are my mistakes.

Please, let me know what you thought and leave a review.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: don't own DBZ, or anything related to it.

just so everyone stays clear, here are the names of the clones again:

Gohan – Nahog  
Videl – Levid  
Vegeta – Furuti  
Trunks – Tapara  
Bulma – Ropa

* * *

Goten was getting seriously bored standing where he was. As per his brother's orders, he had been standing guard outside of Oolong's mansion all day, exactly like how he had seen the guards standing in the comics he used to read at Trunks' house.

But standing here outside of the door, looking at nothing but the empty and never-changing plains, the young half-saiyan was just so bored.

"How do adult people just stand around al day? Must be something about growing up or something…" He mused. But no matter how bored he was, he knew he couldn't do something else. His brother had trusted him with the important duty of guarding the mansion, so he would guard the mansion! Even if he did want to leave and play with Trunks' toys now that his friend wasn't around.

Suddenly Goten felt something odd; an energy-presence he wasn't used too. It was very small, but still too big to be an animal of any sorts. It might have been a dinosaur, or a dragon, but that wasn't right… the signal was coming from inside the house and there's no way a dinosaur or dragon would fit in there.

"Wait, someone's in the house!" the boy yelled before turning around and dashing inside. '_How'd they get inside, I stood outside that door all-day long._'

But there was no time to question such abilities now; he had to find out what was going on.

'_The kitchen!_' Goten realized as he turned the corner. That's where the energy signal was coming from! Increasing his speed a bit more, the pre-teen dashed right through the door, ready for a fight.

Only to run straight into Master Roshi, who had been looking around the kitchen as well. With a almost unnatural balance and reaction, the old master prevented himself from falling and stabilized Goten before either of them fell to the ground. He immediately spun the child around, making them stand back-to-back.

"Hey, Master Roshi, why're you here?" the child asked, turning around to face the older man, just as his mother had taught him.

"For the same reason you are Goten." He answered, his eyes scanning the room for whoever had infiltrated the mansion. "I sensed a strange energy enter the building and it seems to be hiding somewhere around here, but I can't see it. You look through that part of the room, I'll look through here."

"Okay!" Goten's response was not nearly as cheerful as would have been expected of the child, but Roshi's tone had held something in it that made it clear to the boy this was no game.

The two swept through the room, Goten lifting and opening everything he could – including the refrigerator, dinner table and spice supply, while Roshi calmly walked in between the objects, his sharp and well-trained eyes looking for any disturbance left by the infiltrator.

Hiding in her spot inside the wall, Levid was forced to rely on her hearing to know where the two males were looking. She had heard Goten's loud approach, which allowed her to hide mere seconds before Roshi had entered the room, quiet as a mouse. Had it not been for the boy's distraction, she would have already been caught. But even so, this hiding area left her without anything to see.

Her enhancement was to become immaterial, allowing her to pass through any and all objects as she desired, but it didn't mean she could look through the wall she was hiding in. and worse; staying in her immaterial form was quickly taking it's toll on her; in a few minutes, she would be unable to keep it up and would materialize. Inside the wall she was hiding in.

Without any other options, Levid took a step back and then another, moving out of the wall and into a hallway. Quickly re-assuming her material form, Levid turned around and dashed down the hallway, as far away from the two who had somehow discovered her presence as she could.

Turning a corner, Levid nearly ran right into the back of another of the residents, a middle-aged woman with black hair. Unable to stop herself, the cloned girl did the only thing she could; she re-activated her ability and dropped right through the floor, an instant before Chichi turned around and looked in her direction. Levid had barely avoided being detected, but now she was underground, completely blind and needed to get out fast.

Moving in a random direction, Levid quickly resurfaced, but now she was in a living room, which was fortunately empty. Carefully, she stepped out into the hallway, using all her senses to make sure no-one was approaching, and moved up the stairs to her left. The house was almost empty, but she couldn't afford to be discovered now. Nahog had warned her not to fight any of the warriors one-on-one.

'_Ah-ha, found it._' she thought as she peered through the second doorway. She was looking into a large conference room, a long table and plenty of chairs filling up the room, with a large computer projection at the back. Softly pushing the door open, she stepped into the room and moved to the computer. It was still on and it displayed a file with text. The outline of Gohan's plans!

'_Variations__ of the __plan;__ supplied by the others?_' She was shocked. If this was true… if Gohan had changed his plans from what Nahog had expected them to be…

- SLAM -

The sound of the door slamming shut made Levid react instinctively; she jumped forward, away from the door, rolled on her shoulder and immediately stood up in a fighting pose on the table, looking at whoever had closed the door on her. She was looking right at a small, fat man holding a very sharp katana in his hands, eyes focused on her. Videl readied herself for the fight, but was distracted by a movement to both her right and her left.

She quickly glanced around and understood just what was going on; somehow, a small child, an old man, a floating cat and a green-skinned human-looking thing had snuck into the room and were now surrounding her.

'_Oh shit!_' She barely had time to realize how much trouble she was in, before she knew she had to act. Nahog had been specific; no matter how weak or easy they might look, she was not to fight any of these people, because they could all kill her in a second. And without knowing who the strongest or the weakest of them were, she still had nothing to go by.

She could attack the child, but for all she knew, he was also stronger then her. The old man gave off the air of an experienced fighter who would break her in seconds, the cat and green-skinned thing were too different from anything she had ever fought before, so she couldn't predict their movements, and the fat swordsman looked like he knew how to wield his weapon very well…

"Kiyaah!" She cried out as she raised her arms and fired a set of blasts all around her, rotating on her heels while keeping up the barrage. Unable to properly control the strength of the blasts, she was quickly exhausted, but her purpose was none-the-less reached; her attackers were covered in enough smoke to temporarily blind them, allowing her to quickly make her escape.

Flying straight through the skylight, Levid sustained more then a few scratches while leaving the room, and shot away. Before any of them could follow her – they could probably all fly, just like her, only faster – she dropped herself below the ground once more and kept up her movement.

'_Keep moving in a straight line!_' she told herself, '_You're on the right direction, just keep it up!_'

The fear of being caught sustained her long, but after nearly three minutes of flying below the ground, she had no choice but to resurface. With some luck, she had created enough confusion and distance between them to safely make it to Nahog's base…

Reappearing above the ground, Levid let out a breath, before suddenly collapsing on the ground, her body exhausted beyond her expectations. She could barely drag herself underneath a bush to her left, preventing her from being seen from above immediately, before fainting.

XxX

The sky was bright with explosions, the clouds around them blown to bits. To the people on the earth, it would appear like several suns had risen at once, but each of the blasts fired was strong enough to destroy the planet, should it not be cancelled out by an equally strong attack.

Vegeta was facing his clone, Furuti, in battle and the two were now matched as equal as could be; every punch either of the two threw was blocked and followed by a counter-attack, which was subsequently evaded or also blocked.

Both fighters backed off at the same time, staring at each other for a few seconds as they devised their strategy for the next exchange. They were upon each other again in seconds.

Vegeta opened with a left punch, which Furuti mirrored, the two fists slamming into each other and creating shockwaves strong enough to crush buildings, had any been around. Vegeta followed up with a left-knee, but Furuti blocked it with his elbow, sending his right fist flying, only for it to be pushed aside by Vegeta's own fist, before it went straight towards Furuti's jaw.

Swinging his head and entire body back, Furuti evaded the blow and kicked out at Vegeta, forcing the original Saiyan Prince to dodge to the side, firing a blast to keep up the offensive. Furuti slapped it to the side with one hand, spinning himself around and round-house kicked Vegeta. The prince dodged underneath the kick and brought up his fist to counter into Furuti's stomach. It hit, but Furuti didn't let up on his offense.

Snapping his other leg Furuti, he kneed Vegeta in the face, but the husband of Bulma moved in the direction of the kick, reducing the damage and allowing him to kick his counterpart in the stomach. Both fighters backed off from each other. Flipping over, they were looking at each other before both raising their hands and returning to firing salvo after salvo of energy attacks.

The space between them – small as it was – was filled with light, heat and smoke from the explosions, but neither Saiyan warrior relented, using their senses to locate their opponent and every attack he launched.

'_Damnit,_' Vegeta thought to himself, trying to come up with a strategy. '_I'm beginning to feel the strain from keeping up my fully powered form. And thanks to healing after the Namek's attack, he's matching me blow-by-blow while keeping up the basic transformation…any more and I'll have to go to the second level, but even then I won't have the power needed to destroy him instantly._'

Speaking of the Namek, Piccolo had left Vegeta immediately after Furuti had healed from his surprise attack. In terms of raw power, speed and fighting skill, the Namek knew he was no match for Vegeta or his clone, so he would only get in the way. Even with his extensive experience – which he had inherited from both Kami and his father, King Piccolo – he would not be able to tip the scales. He would be more of a problem then an aid in this fight, so he had send a telepathic message that he would go help the others and bring back reinforcements. Normally, Vegeta was a force to be reckoned with… but if he could heal from every injury and grow stronger thanks to his Saiyan heritage…

But Vegeta had no time to waste thinking about the green man, he was far to busy countering every single blast and returning it in kind.

The horizontal rain of energy-blasts stopped for a second and Vegeta rushed forward. In the middle of the smoke, he clashed with his clone once again. Earth-shattering punches and kicks were once again exchanged, the fight slowly moving up higher and higher. Within seconds, the two warriors were moving into the stratosphere, reducing their ability to breathe. If either of the fighters would get the wind knocked out now, it would create a critical opening for the enemy.

'_Vegeta, keep him occupied, I'll come back with Gohan and the others as quickly as I can._' Piccolo's parting words – or thoughts, since they were telepathically sent – rung through Vegeta's ears again.

'_No!_' The prince nearly shouted, but instead only let out a large burst of energy, sending his clone flying away. '_Í will not let anyone interfere, this is my fight now! I will kill this pathetic copy before anyone else can interfere!_'

Furuti didn't say anything, merely flying back enough to evade the burst of energy and returning a two-handed blast. Vegeta caught it with both of his own hands and re-directed it towards the sky, only to find Furuti suddenly in front of him, his fist already flying.

As his head swung back from the force of the punch, Vegeta released even more power, electricity running visibly over his body. Before Furuti had a chance to react, Vegeta kneed him in the stomach, forcing the air out of his body, and quickly grabbed his clone around the throat.

'_Die! I will not be defeated by an imitation of myself!_' Vegeta knew he couldn't say the words, no matter how much he wanted to taunt his enemy, but speaking in this level of the atmosphere would rob him of his precious air supply and he had no way of regaining oxygen at this height.

The lack of oxygen combined with the choke-hold Vegeta still had around his throat, made Furuti purple in the face, before he too could gather enough energy to blast everything around him away. Vegeta held on for a few seconds, but was forced to release his opponent when bolts of lightning appeared on his body as well, stinging the Prince's hands and threatening to affect his nervous system.

As soon as the hold was released, Furuti shot downward, desperate for air he could breathe, with Vegeta in hot pursuit. A sudden blast of energy distracted Vegeta long enough for his opponent to take a gulp of much-needed oxygen, before he turned around.

Two identical smirks looked at each other, as the two Super Saiyans sized each other up. Both were now in the advanced stage of the transformation, the same level that Gohan had reached seven years ago when facing Cell.

Now the battle was really on.

XxX

Directly above the island where the World Summit had been held, four figures were floating as they sized each other up. Gohan, still in his disguise of the Great Saiyaman, floated alongside Android #18, as they stared at Nahog and the adult clone of Trunks, Tapara.

Although Tapara had managed to attack Gohan from behind, the advantage had been short-lived, since #18 had quickly come to the Half-Saiyan's rescue by blasting both clones away. This had resulted in the two duo's staring each other down.

"Why did you make him an adult, Nahog?" Gohan suddenly questioned, obviously surprised by the appearance of the adult Trunks. "Why did you risk artificially enhancing his age, while we both know the risks involved?"

But neither Nahog nor Tapara said a word, nor did they take any immediate action. At Gohan's side, #18 was also silent, her sensors and processors fast at work to devise her optimal combat strategy and the tactics that her opponents were going to use.

'_Wait, of course!_' Gohan thought as realization dawned upon him. '_He__needed__ the clones to help him out in the battles against us. And the younger Trunks is too dangerous and rash, so he aged him. He needed an adult fighter to take us on, and by accelerating his growth, Trunks has reached a much higher level of maturity then the real-life version has. Well, he may be more mature… but if what I'm sensing is right, his power hasn't increased from the real Trunks. He'll be no match for me._'

On the other side, with Nahog and Tapara, the two were exchanging hurried whispers about their strategy.

"No, Nahog, look! He's completely distracted; we can take him right now, right here!"

"No, we can't. He's too strong to take down in just one attack, we have to be careful."

"No risk, no gain!" was all Tapara quickly said, before he immediately rushed forward, straight towards Gohan.

"No, Tapara you idiot, you're no match for him!"

But the warning was too late. Gohan reacted exactly as Nahog had expected; the lowering of his guard while thinking about why the Trunks clone had been aged was a trap, which Tapara had fallen for. Before the purple-haired youth could even get close to hitting Gohan, the older warrior disappeared and re-appeared behind him, slamming his elbow into Tapara's back.

Before the clone had a chance to recover, Gohan brought up his knee and hit Tapara in the stomach, followed by a Jackhammer on the back. Tapara let out a groan of pain, but Gohan didn't give in; he flipped himself over, placing both his feet on Tapara's chest, and kicked as hard as he could. The clone impacted on the third island over – which was uninhabited – almost instantly, cracking it in two before being brought to a stop in the ocean.

Immediately turning around, Gohan caught Nahog's fist and launched his own, only for it to meet a similar fate. The two identical men now held the fist of their opponent as they glared at each other.

"#18; go and deal with that Trunks clone!" Gohan quickly ordered as both he and Nahog started powering up. Not making any sound of acknowledgement, the blond android disappeared in the direction that Tapara had been shot, leaving the two half-saiyans to deal with each other.

In an instant flash of light, both warriors were engulfed in their own glowing aura's of power as they quickly raised their power, their grunts of effort clearly heard. The two auras combined, growing into a large white flame surrounding the two, growing brighter as their power grew.

"GUWAAH!" Both men cried out as their auras exploded outward before shrinking to a normal size again, both now glowing gold as they transformed into a Super Saiyan. Even so, they didn't stop raising their power, until they both drew back their heads simultaneously and bashed their skulls together.

To them the blow felt as if it was nothing, but what remained of the taller buildings on the island cracked and started to crumble from the shockwave. Both backed off after the headbutt, but immediately continued their fight, now striking and kicking as best they could.

A stray energy blast from Vegeta or Furuti made it's way past them before exploding almost harmlessly in the sea outside of the island. A large wave smashed upon the beach of the island, but no-one was swept away by it.

Still separated because of the energy blast, Gohan and Nahog glanced at each other before flying away simultaneously, their eyes still on each other as they flew. Some thirty miles away from the island – barely three seconds of flight for the warriors – they were floating above nothing but ocean, and their battle was rejoined.

XxX

"Think you're so smart, being invisible huh tough guy?" Yamcha said as his eyes swept across the room he was standing in. he was still battered and bruised from his encounter with Nahog mere minutes earlier, but whoever this was, he could easily hold him off if power levels were anything to go buy.

A punch hit Yamcha at the back of his head, and he kicked out behind him, but didn't hit anything but air. It didn't matter; the punch hadn't hurt the human at all, just like the previous three hits that were landed. His opponent was definitely strong enough to kill a normal human without a problem.

Fortunately, Yamcha was anything but a normal human.

Another hit, this time in the gut, and again Yamcha felt nothing.

"That's it, time for games is over!" Yamcha proclaimed when his counter-attack missed again. Instead he slammed his heel into the ground hard, cracking the floor. A small raise of his power level was enough to send the dust that appeared flying all over the room.

The dust wasn't nearly intense enough to cause a problem to anyone fighting, but it did make a crucial aid for Yamcha; the floating dust stuck to the form of his invisible opponent, making him visible for the first time.

Before the invisible fighter could react, Yamcha rushed forward and struck a blow in the chest with enough force to obliterate the energy he was feeling. His opponent flew back, straight through five walls until they were out in the now-deserted courtyard, with Yamcha hot in pursuit.

As soon as he exited, however, Yamcha could barely evade a big energy blast that was aimed straight for him. Phasing out of the way by using his super-human speed, Yamcha tried to look around, only to realize he had again lost the advantage. Although the courtyard was still indoor and thus dark, there was no dust or anything else in the room to reveal his enemy. This fact was made doubly clear, when an invisible fist suddenly made contact with his face.

But unlike before, the punch was now strong enough to hurt him, even forcing his head back and nearly causing blood to erupt from his nose. Before he could react, the punch was followed by a nasty kick in the back of his knees, forcing him to the ground. When he was there, he felt an elbow making contact with his face as well, but the sudden power was gone, the attack no longer dealing any damage.

The subsequent knee in the back, however, was almost strong enough to snap his spine.

"KIYAAH!" Yamcha cried, releasing a burst of energy from his body. Whoever it was he was fighting was backed off allowing Yamcha to gather energy in his hand.

"Let's see how you like my Super Spirit Ball." He proclaimed as the large ball of light glue in his hand, casting an eerie white light over the entire room. Adding to that was more dust, which had been created by the burst of energy used mere seconds before. Floating around, the dust revealed the figure of someone lying in a corner, while the white light of the Spirit Ball made the form even clearer to identify.

But unlike what Yamcha had expected, this was no male form he was looking at. Instead, he was looking at a very beautiful, long-haired woman whose curves he recognized instantly. After all, he had dated her several years.

"Bulma?" He exclaimed, his surprise taking over. The woman he had knocked aside raised herself, shaking her head a few times to clear it, before she slowly stood up. Having recognized her original's name, Ropa de-activated her invisibility and stepped into full view.

The Super Spirit Ball Yamcha had formed faded out of existence harmlessly as his concentration was broken.

"Oh, Yamcha… you… you're not going to hurt me, are you?" The beautiful woman softly pleaded as she stepped closer. Yamcha took a cautious step back. He knew this wasn't the real Bulma, it was her clone and she was an oppo- no an enemy! But… he just couldn't bring himself to fight against his first love.

"Please, don't hurt me." By now Ropa was close enough to carefully touch Yamcha's shirt, holding it softly with one hand, a perfect image of weakness…

The next thing Yamcha knew, Ropa had smashed both her open hands into the sides of his head, sending a jab of pain shooting through his brain, ringing his ears and ruining his coordination at once. From that same position, she grabbed his ears and some of his hair, and brought his face down for a violent meeting her knee.

As blood shot from Yamcha's now-broken nose, Ropa finished her job by giving him another knee right in the crotch. Unfortunately, all three hits had been strong enough to cause Yamcha serious pain, so he was stunned and motionless as the Bulma-clone stepped back and grinned at him.

"You know, I think I could seriously learn to enjoy this. I always wanted to fight you guys on your own level, even if it was just once. That was payback for being a cheating bastard!"

Quickly moving both her hands forward, Ropa unleashed as strong a blast at Yamcha as she could, engulfing him in yellow-white light.

XxX

A small distance away from Tower Castle, #18 was floating above the ocean as her scanners tried to find her quarry. He had yet to resurface after Gohan had kicked him away. Like the superior warrior, she too had been surprised to see an adult Trunks, when they had been expecting a child, but it mattered little to her.

Unlike the others, she could still place reason above emotion if need be, and she had never built a particularly close relationship with the Briefs Family. She could fight him, just as she had once fought his future self. That one had been stronger, even more so, than the Trunks she knew as a child now is. And from what her sensors had shown her so far, this adult Trunks wasn't much stronger then the child Trunks.

Suddenly the water below exploded, as the Trunks-clone shot forward with gold hair. Floating to the side, #18 evaded the reckless charge and kicked the youth in the back. He quickly managed to stabilize himself and flipped around to return the attack. #18 brought up her hand to defend herself, but she was an instant too late.

Tapara's hand shot forward and hit the blond on the forehead.

'_Damn._' She realized, as she launched a volley blasts while backing off. '_He's stronger and faster then I'd thought. There must have been a few more advantages to him gaining a fully-grown body._'

Glowing with a shield of golden energy, Tapara burst through the explosion, swinging his fist. Even without moving, the attack missed #18 by a wide birth.

'_That's odd… why did his attack miss me so easily?_' Even while wondering about it, #18 countered, her punch making easy connection with Tapara's jaw, forcing his head back. Without a pause, the teen's leg snapped forward, intending to kick the blond android away, but it stopped before it made contact, allowing #18 to land another clear counter.

Pressing her advantage, #18 launched a fresh assault, keeping Tapara on the defensive, but something was off; based on the boy's speed and power, he should have been able to at least parry or defend against her assault. This wasn't the case, however. His blocks were always just off; either too fast, too slow, too high or too low. These holes allowed the android to easily land many hits, each striking critical area's with surgical precision.

'_What is wrong with this guy?_' #18 thought as he performed yet another pathetic attack. '_My sensors indicate he should be a major threat to me, but he can't even seem to hit me… is his coordination really this terrible?_'

By now Tapara was coughing up blood, courtesy of #18's precise attacks, and he tried to gain some breathing space, but the beautiful blond would not yield. Her assault continued unabashed, forcing the super saiyan back further and further. Losing control over the situation apparently made the clone lose his cool as well, because he send out his arm flying forward in a weak attempt at a haymaker, but #18 easily caught it.

"That's it, time to break you!" She pronounced as she grabbed the appendage with both hands, elbowed the boy in the face to distract him and brought her knee up, ready to smash bone to dust.

However, she felt no impact; where before there had been solid muscle beneath a shirt, there was now formless, liquid metal, which parted to let the knee pass through harmlessly. In fact, Tapara's entire arm suddenly transformed into a strange form of mercury, the liquid metal slipping through #18's fingers before she could react.

"What the hell?" She barely had time to exclaim, before a heavy kick almost crushed her back. She created some distance for herself to focus on the problem at hand, but now that Tapara had the advantage he didn't let it up either. The boy attacked with a renewed vigor.

Fortunately, despite his liquid metal arm quickly reforming, his coordination was still as terrible as ever; #18 easily dodged, parried or blocked his attacks, hardly taking hits in the process. Frustration once again taking the best of him, Tapara drew back one fist completely, giving #18 a wide opening to his side. Without hesitation she kicked.

Only for her leg to get stuck in the same mess of liquid metal as Tapara's gut also transformed. Her kick passed halfway through before the metal kept it encased, holding #18's foot in place.

Trying to keep her cool, #18 raised both hands to fire a point-zero blast at Tapara, but the boy raised his own hands and kept the energy orb in place, preventing an explosion while the orb grew stronger and stronger from the struggle.

Suddenly another blast struck Tapara in the back, freeing #18's leg just in time for her to form an energy shield to protect herself from the explosion. More blasts rained down from above, adding more power to the explosion that Tapara was caught in.

Protected by her shield, #18 flew out of the explosions unharmed, quickly joining in the assault on the teen. After almost thirty seconds of none-stop firing, both #18 and her rescuer stopped firing. From above, Piccolo hovered into sight, his eyes trained on the explosion below, ready for any movement.

#18 noticed that he had already removed his cape and turban, so he was ready to get serious. But from the explosions sounding above, Vegeta and his clone were still fighting… something must have gone wrong then, for the Namek to be here.

Not that it would really matter; between the two of them, the young clone they were fighting would be killed in a matter of seconds. The Namek was not only far stronger then #18, he was also the single most experienced fighter alive on Earth, maybe even in the universe. It had helped, having absorbed the experience of both his father – King Piccolo – and Kami.

The explosion below slowly faded, revealing Tapara looking on the verge of death; he was no longer a Super Saiyan, there were only straps of clothing left on him and he was covered head to toe in bruises and blood. But the most disturbing of all, was the fact that the left side of his face, his right hand and both feet appeared to have gotten stuck in a state between solid and liquid metal.

Looking up as well, a look of pure terror appeared on the purple-haired boy's face. He knew that, if he couldn't defeat #18 on her own, with Piccolo added to the battle he was as good as dead.

After a second's hesitation, Tapara turned tail and fled. Piccolo and #18 were in pursuit a second later, ready to overtake him if need be. They couldn't fire their energy blasts at him, because if they did they would hit the inhabited islands around Castle Tower and the other islands.

While he was fleeing – which went against every principle he had ever been taught, but the orders Nahog and Furuti had given were clear – Tapara desperately tried to find a way out. However, the more he thought the more he realized he was working himself into a hornet's nest; he was flying straight towards the other Z-fighters, he could feel them near. Tien, Krillin and Chiaotzu, as well as the original Trunks were straight ahead, quickly closing in on him. And not only that, but Yamcha was also lifting off from Castle Tower.

'_Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!_' He ranted, still unable to find a way out. '_I couldn't keep up with #18, let alone Piccolo. In a normal condition, I might have been able to fight off either Yamcha, Krillin or Tien, but __the __way I am now, I'll get killed! I can't face up to the__m;__ the difference in experience is too big._'

Suddenly he felt a presence flying next to him, followed by a calming hand on his shoulder as he flew.

"Mom? Are you here?"

"Yeah sweetie, I'm here." Ropa said as she released her invisibility. "Now's not the time to panic, we have to get out of here. Hold on to me, I'll try to add you to the invisibility as well. It should buy us enough time to make an escape."

Firing two random blasts, more for blinding the Z-fighters then actually doing damage, Tapara grabbed his mother around the waist and felt an odd sensation sneak over him. The next thing he knew, the two flew straight past Krillin, but the small man didn't even see them.

"We have to abort, the plan's a failure." Ropa said grumpily as they flew. "They can't see us, I'm bending the light around us, so we appear invisible to them, but we can see ourselves and them just fine."

Behind them both Piccolo and #18 aborted the chase when their target had disappeared and turned around, shooting towards where Gohan and Nahog were still dueling.

XxX

Thirty miles away from Castle Tower, an odd and completely unnatural phenomenon was occurring; the water of the ocean, several miles deep, had been pushed aside and, without anywhere else to go, forced up. It now formed an eerie blue-green, ever-changing and moving wall around the two Saiyans as they fought. The light that came through it cast the battle in an eerie light, but the warriors didn't pay attention to it as their battle continued.

Since arriving here, neither fighter had fired a single energy blast, both preferring hand-to-hand combat. And with each hit that connected, whether clean or blocked, send out such massive amounts of force that the wall of water around them shook again.

Both bore the marks of heavy combat, even if the fight hadn't even lasted two minutes so far. Gohan's helmet had been smashed already, the upper and back parts still attached to his face, while the visor had been completely destroyed, his cape had been torn off his shoulders, the green toga was now hanging on one shoulder and the black bodysuit was covered in cuts and blood.

Nahog looked just as bad, his white jacket had been shredded as soon as they arrived, quickly followed by his usual black shirt, leaving him topless. This showed the many injuries he had suffered nicely, his chest marked with bruises and fresh blood. Blood was flowing slowly from his mouth, while nothing remained of the left sleeve of his pants.

Both identical saiyans had caught a cross-punch from their opponent, putting them at point-blank range in mid-air, unable to do anything but smash their heads together time and time again, hoping their enemy would back off first, but knowing they wouldn't.

Finally, Nahog swung his legs back a bit and kneed Gohan in the stomach, doubling him over. An elbow to the back of the neck was evaded by the original; who phased out and re-appeared to smash his foot into Nahog's face.

Some small room now created, both fighters took a quick breath, sizing each other up. True, Nahog should have been stronger by now, thanks to his little bout with Vegeta, but Gohan had had a chance to train some more. And apparently, it had worked out; both Half-Saiyan, Half-Human warriors were perfectly equal to each other.

Looking over Gohan's shoulder for a second, Nahog saw two distant figures arrive, but the image blurred by the constantly flowing water. Before the clone had a chance to properly see who was coming, Gohan was upon him again, striking blow after blow. Twisting the fight around, Nahog had a split second to see the two figures and identify them, before Gohan made him pay by planting his fist in Nahog's stomach.

As air and blood escaped Nahog's mouth, he realized that the figures were #18 and Piccolo; they were moving quickly to come to Gohan's aid.

'_Not good!_' Nahog knew. '_I can fight Gohan one-on-one, but a three-on-one is suicide. And from what I can tell, Tapara and Ropa haven't been successful either… damnit!_'

Using more energy then he could afford to waste, Nahog created an explosion, himself at the centre. The blast forced Gohan to retreat, and gave Nahog the time he needed; with one hand he created a white energy ball and launched it into the sky; the signal of retreat.

But he couldn't escape just yet. Tapara and Ropa were probably already on their way to escape, but Furuti was still locked in combat with Vegeta no doubt. And the moment Nahog would turn around and flee, all the Z-fighters would gang up on Furuti. He couldn't afford to lose the flame-haired clone, not at this crucial stage of the plan.

So, instead, he used the best distraction he could create; once again wasting more energy then he could afford, Nahog launched what could only be described as a vertical carpet bombing; he fired as many energy blasts as he could towards Gohan, the other Z-fighters and the remains of the Castle Tower and the surrounding islands, each blast more then powerful enough to create a gaping hole in the Earth.

From the distance, five figures could be seen quickly lifting off from one of the islands, obviously attempting to stop the bombing. An instant later, two other but identical to each other figures appeared from above the clouds, both glowing gold. Furuti – the only sign of battle being his torn clothes – flew towards Nahog and they both continued on, while Vegeta joined the other Z-fighters in re-directing or destroying all the energy blasts before they could explode.

Lowering their altitude to avoid being seen, the two strongest clone-warriors flew towards the rendezvous point, where Tapara and Ropa were already waiting for them. Furuti gave both of them a concerned look, but said nothing.

"This mission was a failure." Nahog finally announced. "But for now, we have to get out of here. Stay low and keep your power down."

Without another word, the quartet of clones flew away, all barely above the ground as they moved back to their hideout.

* * *

As always much thanks to my beta Kushin eX for going over this chapter.

Please leave a review telling me what you think,


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: don't own DBZ or anything related to it.

Clone names:  
Gohan – Nahog  
Videl – Levid  
Vegeta – Furuti  
Trunks – Tapara  
Bulma – Ropa

* * *

Everyone in the room was silent, even Trunks, as Dende moved between the injured warriors to heal them. No-one had suffered any truly serious injuries, the worst being Vegeta's heavy bruises, but the green guardian had insisted on healing them.

Immediately after the clones had retreated, all the Z-fighters had pulled out of the area, leaving everyone else completely dazed. To their eyes and ears, it had just been one huge explosion after the other, with the culprits barely identifiable, so everyone had immediately escaped to avoid being recognized.

Now, they were back at Oolong's mansion, recovering for a bit before going on to discuss what they had learned. Suddenly, Goten rushed into the door, completely ignoring the mood in the room and dashed straight to his brother.

"Gohan, Gohan, you were right!" he shouted as he came to a halt, the only reason he didn't jump into his brother's arms was that Dende was currently healing him. "Someone did try to get in here! She got in here, right here, and then we all scared her off!"

The last bit was told with particular pride, the boy grinning from ear to ear. Dende had to step to the side very quickly to avoid his head colliding with Gohan's chest as the demi-Saiyan shot up.

"What did you say?"

"Someone tried to break in here, just like you said they would, and she even made it into this room before we scared her off! Me and Mr. Roshi and Mr. Dende and Mr. Popo and Mr. Floating Kat and that other big mister that's always eating who's name I can't pro- pronu - say!"

Slowly, Gohan sat down again, his eyes locked on his little brother, who was still grinning from ear to ear. In truth, he hadn't expected Nahog to really approach the mansion, because there was so little value in it for him. The thing about standing guard was just a white lie to keep Goten happy while he stayed behind.

"You say it was a she." Gohan stated, repeating the information. "What did she look like?"

"Ehm…" Goten's grin was now gone as he tried to remember the details. "Well, I know she was a girl because she had REALLY long hair… but I can't really remember anything else."

"She's short, somewhere between one meter fifty-five and sixty-five, has waist-length black hair that's well taken care of, experience with martial arts, blue eyes, a pretty face but not beautiful and is a teenager. Probably somewhere around your age Gohan."

All eyes in the room fell upon Master Roshi as the hermit quickly made his summary without one perverted notion. Dende and Yajirobi were also shocked that the old man had remembered such things when they hadn't even seen the girl for more then a few seconds.

"What?" The old man irritably asked, "I've been a master martial artist for longer then any of you have been alive. Of course I can quickly see everything about my opponents!"

However, Gohan was stunned for another reason. As soon as Dende was done healing him, he stood up and gave a few short taps on the computer, projecting the image on the large screen. A well-known picture came on the screen, one of the last positive headlines in many papers lately.

"Is this her?"

"Yeah, that's her. Only the girl that came in here had waist-length hair and it wasn't held in pigtails or anything like it."

"What the fuck is going on here?" Gohan nearly yelled as he sat down, shocking everyone with his sudden cursing. "For those of you who haven't recognized her, this is Videl Satan."

The picture was of Videl striking a slight pose for the news camera's after she had stopped another crime – Gohan wasn't sure which one, it might have had something to do with the mayor. – and made the front page with it.

"But…" Gohan sank deeper into his chair, quickly losing himself to his thoughts, "Why on earth did he clone Videl?"

XxX

In sharp contrast to his counterpart, Nahog and his friends were in near chaos back at their hideout. As soon as they had returned, Ropa and Furuti had put Tapara on the sofa, the first object they could find to lay him down on. Although all four clones had suffered some degree of injury, none had been hurt as badly as Tapara.

As the two parents fretted over their son, Nahog noticed something else that was wrong; Levid wasn't around. Quickly exiting the room, Nahog ordered one of the people in the hall to bring a doctor to check up on the injured teen, while he quickly moved through the building, checking each room.

The female clone was nowhere to be found, not in their room, neither of the bathrooms, the cafeteria or anywhere else. And, as he learned when enquiring, none of the others in the building had seen her leave.

Finally he got back into the room where the clones of the Briefs family were still huddled together.

"Hey guys, have any of you seen Levid, she's nowhere to be found." He asked.

However, none of the others responded, Tapara being too wounded to talk and his parents too busy fussing over him to respond to Nahog's request. Realizing this, Nahog quickly left the room and moved over to his own chambers to get changed. A few minutes later he walked out with a fresh change of clothes; a sweater with the hood pulled up, sunglasses to cover his eyes and most of his face and pants to go with the shirt. With some luck, people wouldn't recognize him in passing.

Running out of the door, leaving the Briefs clones to their own business, Nahog shot into the sky faster then a human eye could track. The question was, where was he going to find Levid? He had no idea where she had gone, only that she must have used her ability to become spectral to escape the house without anyone noticing.

"Where is she?" Nahog mumbled to himself as he had to choose a direction. 'She wasn't heading to the World Summit, she knows very well that she couldn't help in a fight against the others yet. Maybe she went to her old house?'

"Oh no…" Nahog groaned as he suddenly remembered when Ropa had told them where they were staying. "I sure as hell hope she didn't go over there… but knowing her, that'll be the first place I have to check out."

Flying low but fast, Nahog moved to the exit of the city, scanning everywhere he could to see if Levid was amongst them. She was nowhere to be found in Satan City – which was good, because every single citizen of Satan City would recognize her face instantly, but there were still two large cities and several small villages between here and Oolong's mansion. Not for the first time, Nahog wished that he could also sense the energies of others, just like his original.

Nearly three hours of frantic searching later, Nahog had reached the western end of Rice City, the last major city before reaching Oolong's mansion. It was there, near the edge of the city, that Nahog had finally found the girl. She was sitting on the ground, leaning against a building. Immediately upon seeing her, Nahog knew something was wrong; Levid was white as a ghost, sweated an unnatural amount and was more exhausted then anyone Nahog could ever remember seeing.

As soon as Nahog appeared before her, Levid forced her head up, looking at him and tried to smile. Her mouth barely moved as she tried it though, exhaustion making it nearly impossible for her to move. Putting one hand on the ground and the other on the wall, Levid tried to lift herself up, only to promptly faint when she lifted herself half an inch.

Nahog reached her and held her head before she was even halfway to the ground. There was no fever or anything else that he could detect. Scooping her up bridal style, the cloned half-saiyan shot back into the air, with only one question on his mind.

"What on earth happened to her?"

XxX

After Gohan's previous outburst the group of super-warriors had taken a short break since Chichi had just finished dinner. All throughout the meal, Gohan, Vegeta and Piccolo were silent, although they did all join in a small toast Krillin suddenly made to celebrate the fact that this was their first big battle without any losses.

But now, it was de-briefing time. Gathered in Oolong's conference room once again, Gohan had activated the large screen. On it were five pictures; Gohan, Videl, Vegeta, Bulma and an old picture of the Trunks from the future. Of course, they were meant to represent the five clones.

"Ok, let's start by pooling together what we know of the clones." Gohan started, standing next to the screen. "First off, we have Nahog. He's my clone and from the looks of it their leader and mastermind. His special ability is being completely undetectable by anything other then audio- or visual cues. So he'll only show up on camera or radar, we can't sense him. On the other hand, he can't sense us either."

Next to the picture of Nahog a short list appeared, stating Nahog's original, his function, ability and the downside of the ability.

"Next up, Vegeta's clone. What do we know?"

"He has high-speed regeneration, it works even if there's a hole blasted straight through his chest." Piccolo supplied. "He'll be very difficult to kill with that regeneration."

"Not just that." Vegeta suddenly said. "He is also a pure-blooded Saiyan, just as I am. Any injury that a Saiyan receives and recovers from increases their fighting power. This also holds true for you half-Saiyans, but the increase in power you receive isn't as substantial. With his health-regeneration, he can and will grow stronger with every attack that hits him."

"So, his ability is regeneration and combined with his Saiyan genes, that makes for one hell of a problem. Did you notice anything else about him aside from the healing when you fought him Vegeta?"

"No, no changes, although it looks like he doesn't recover his energy or stamina any faster then I do. It only affects physical injuries he receives."

Next to the picture of Furuti, the list appeared, although no weaknesses were displayed.

"If that's so, he'll be the most dangerous to deal with. We'll have to team up on him to defeat him."

"As much as I hate to admit it, that would be the only alternative, unless you want to strap Green Bean Junior to my back for continuous healing." Vegeta made sure his discontent was understood.

"Now, the other three are all fairly odd. Let's start with the most basic one: Trunks." Gohan signaled for them to continue. "#18 and I fought him, although I only noticed his power is somewhat similar to our Trunks, barely any higher. #18 what did you find out?"

"There's something odd going on with him, that's for sure." The blond android started. "He moved faster then I did after he had transformed into a Super Saiyan, but had messed up coordination. He couldn't hit me even with a clear shot, his miscalculated the length and timing of every attack and defense he tried"

"And his ability?"

"He could turn his body into liquid metal, something similar to mercury. When we fought he only changed parts of it, so I don't know if he can change his entire body or not. I know for a fact he can change his arms and torso to mercury. It allows him to stop physical attacks and morph his body to enhance his abilities."

"So, reduced coordination and mercury-changing abilities." Gohan summarized, the words appearing on the screen. "Perhaps the reduced coordination has something to do with his unnatural growth. Puberty changes the body a lot and requires a change in coordination, Trunks' Clone skipped that part. We'll use that when we fight him next. Ok, Bulma's Clone is next"

"She can turn invisible at will, but more then that. When we fought, she could actually hurt me." Yamcha said, earning a snicker from Vegeta, which the human baseball superstar ignored. "And more then that; the damage she inflicted in each hit varied. One hit I wouldn't even feel, the other would be a slight sting and a third would suddenly have me gasping for air. It's the same with her energy blasts, it's like their power is random."

"I don't think it's invisibility." Piccolo said from his location against the wall. "If she could become invisible it would only affect her, but she could also drag the Trunks clone along when they fled. It's likely a form of light-manipulation."

"Light manipulation is a large estimation." Gohan agreed. "We did some testing with invisible clone but that was restricted to changing the skin only. However, we also attempted giving someone the ability to alter coloration, just like a chameleon, or redirect light beams. Let's assume it's the light redirecting, it's the only thing that would allow her to also hide the Trunks clone from our eyes. Yamcha, how did you fight her off?"

"I used dust and sand; it stuck to her and revealed her position. Just make sure there's plenty of stuff in the air to identify her and keep your eyes open, you'll find her in no time."

The info appeared on the screen, next to Bulma's picture.

"And lastly; Videl. What did you guys discover?"

"Her energy-blasts are of varying power, just like with Bulma's clone." Master Roshi started. "I barely felt it, as did Korin, but Yajirobi and Goten were both hurt by the blasts, which doesn't make sense. Dende quickly fixed them up, so there's no harm done, but the difference in power between Goten and the rest of us is nothing to laugh at. He shouldn't even feel a blast that obliterates the rest of us. Aside from that, she appears to have the ability to move through solid objects without moving them. She escaped through the wall without damaging it."

"How is that possible?" Trunks asked, who was actually paying attention at was being said. "How can the attacks made by those two be so different in power? Is it because they're girls? I mean, being able to hurt you is no big deal" Trunks made a wave in Yamcha's general direction "but if they also hurt Goten it means they're quite strong."

"Hey you brat, try saying that again!" Yamcha shot up from his chair, a pissed look on his face.

"Sit down." Bulma ordered her old boyfriend, giving a glare to her son. "Trunks, apologize for what you just said."

"But mom…"

"Apologize!"

"I'm sorry Mr. Yamcha." Trunks followed his mother's order, but his tone of voice and expression made it clear he didn't agree.

"Now, to answer your question." Gohan called the attention to himself again, although Bulma also stood up to give him some support. "Along with giving the clones different abilities, we also experimented with transplanting energy, so we could make them warriors like us. It was successful, but only to a degree."

"The clones were able to use energy as they pleased," Bulma continued, "shooting energy-balls, flying and everything else you guys can do. However, there was a downside. Since the energy was in fact foreign in their bodies the clones only had limited control over it. The power was inconsistent and, more importantly, they couldn't feel when they had reached their limit or used too much power. Several of our test subjects died from exhaustion without feeling the effects until they stopped using energy."

"And you think this is what was done to your clone and the girl's" Piccolo asked to which Bulma and Gohan nodded. "If that's so, then the answer is easy. When fighting them, we simply exhaust them to death. The Bulma clone couldn't fight off Yamcha, so while she's strong she's no match for us. The same probably applies to the girl, which leaves us with only three clones left."

"Yeah, sure. We'll only have to deal with a pissed off Gohan, Trunks and Vegeta after we kill those two." Krillin sighed, moving his hand through his hair. "Sounds like fun, no?"

XxX

Nahog and the other clones were also sitting in a meeting. Tapara and Levid had recovered to full health quickly, thanks to Nahog sacrificing one of his two beans. Giving each of them half a bean, the two had recovered enough to ease all worry held by the other clones.

"So, I managed to sneak into their headquarters," Levid was giving a report of what she had done, "I managed to avoid being found out until I reached their conference room. There was an old man and a kid who did find me, but I avoided them by hiding in the wall. Anyway, in the room there was the basic outline for their plans and it was just as you said it would be Nahog. However, there was something else that was odd; at the bottom of the file, there was something labeled as 'variations suggested by the others.' I didn't have time to read through it, but it seems that Gohan took some of the suggestions of the others into consideration when making the plan."

"Yeah, we kinda noticed that." Tapara remarked with sarcasm. "Their plan had enough changes to screw us over big time."

"Son, watch your language!" Ropa warned, raising a finger as she glared at the purple-haired youth.

"I really wish you hadn't done that." Nahog said, never standing up or raising his voice. Even so, it felt to Levid like he had made the temperature in the room drop fifty degrees. "You revealed yourself while I told you that you were supposed to stay hidden! With this, you could have ruined the entire plan! What if Gohan or Bulma or one of the others suddenly figures out what we don't want them to find out!"

"Be silent!" Furuti's shout interrupted Nahog before he could really start ranting, "What's done is done, we cannot change that. So, instead of complaining about that, why don't we focus on what we do next and how we'll act with this sudden change in the opponent's strategy and knowledge?"

Nahog sat back down and slowly moved his hands over his face, lost in thought for a second.

"You're right Furuti, I shouldn't leave myself get hung up on that. Although Gohan now has information I never intended for him to have, he won't be able to make use of it. He'll just assume I cloned you for causing more chaos or something and still remain ignorant of the truth. As long as he's not like us, he'll remain ignorant. For now, we'll recover from the fight we had and plan for or next move."

"What about the Dragonballs?" Ropa suddenly asked, the twinkle in her eyes indicating she suddenly had a brilliant thought.

"What about them?"

"What if Gohan suddenly thinks about using them to help him deal with us? He could wish to have all the knowledge he needs to destroy us, or just erase us or something. As long as they're not accounted for, they're a liability."

"You're right Ropa." Nahog stood up again, pacing the room as he thought. "How long until you can make a new Dragon Radar? We'll have to keep up-to-date on the location of the Dragonballs, but we can't collect them ourselves. The moment we move them, Gohan and the others will know."

"It shouldn't take me more then two weeks, less time if I get some good assistance."

"Good, now let's get to work. Ropa, you focus on building the Dragonradar, training will come later. Levid and Tapara… it's time you two start getting used to your new abilities. Furuti and I will take turns training you."

XxX

Another emergency-meeting was being held, though in this case none of the people in the meeting were physically present. Instead, the people who were in final control over the spreading of world-wide news were having a video-conference with each other.

Although the meeting was actually quite crowded, with over forty different newspaper editors, news-show directors, tabloid editors and more all attending, it was running rather smoothly. Just for the meeting, rivalries and competition were set apart as the leaders of the world's news were discussing about how they would bring the message of the attack in the newspaper.

"We are all at least agreed upon not making any sort of title that sounds depressing, or even suggests that King Furry was in a near-death situation?" The Central City police commissioner, who was leading the meeting, asked. When everyone had given their agreement, he continued on.

"And instead, the agreed upon message is 'Saiyaman defeats Terrorist, saves thousands.' To avoid adding more fame and fear to Gohan's name and raise more trust in Saiyaman, all in one step. Naturally, everyone is allowed to make some alterations on this title, but the main message must be preserved. The people need hope and courage now, not more fear and despair. We are all agreed?"

Again, everyone had agreed. Unlike most meetings, this time almost everyone was in agreement over needing a positive image. Although newspapers and tabloids existed to sell themselves, they were also aware of the power influence they had on the public. If a simple robbery was written down as a large crime, fear and distrust would soon follow. The reverse also held true, but often didn't sell as many copies.

Everyone in the conference knew that right now, people needed security, hope and confidence – even if it was based off of being only partially informed – more then their companies needed the money of a single week's sales.

"One more thing if you please Commissioner." One of the editors asked when the Commissioner prepared to close the meeting. "How far are you in the investigation of Gohan's motives and predicting their next step?"

"Our investigation is ongoing." The Commissioner started, "At the moment we have half of our detectives working on the problem as well as work very closely together with several other police stations. Even so, we have been unable to locate his location, so we can estimate he is not surviving on his own; someone is aiding him. We are also not clear on his motives just yet, but as I said, our investigation is still ongoing. If there are no further questions, we will hereby end this meeting. Let's hope next time we meet up, we have some really good news to bring."

XxX

Unlike what Videl had expected, she had no problems with sleeping after the sudden attack, or reappearance of Gohan. Instead, the events of the day had drained her of the energy she had, so she slept like a baby that night. The following days were just as good, with no problems sleeping at all. Nor any other sort of problem; apparently, the criminals of Satan City were also taking a few days off to recover from the event. After all, they had seen that weird, idiotic, amusing and naïve Saiyaman was able to match the ruthless, vicious and merciless Gohan blow by blow.

Since Gohan was the man who had defeated Hercule, Videl and many of the best students in an extremely humiliating manner was such a clear show to the criminals that they did not want to angry Saiyaman that all forms of crime had come to a standstill.

Now, like always, Videl was lying in her bed reading a romantic novel before going to sleep. It was already way past midnight and the raven-haired beauty had problems keeping her eyes open, but the book was just too captivating. Just as she was about to turn the page, there was a strange sound coming from somewhere in the room.

Lowering her book, Videl looked around the room and saw nothing out of order. Marking her page and closing the book, Videl turned over in her bed, intend on going to sleep, when she heard another sound, this time right behind her.

Scared, Videl quickly turned herself around, to see what was going on. She froze when she looked at the window. Standing there, with the face and shoulders masked because the curtains wouldn't let the pale moonlight through, stood a figure. The light did make the rest of the body clearly visible, showing a sight Videl had never thought she'd see again.

There, with hair as long as she ever remembered it and a figure just as she remembered it, Videl was looking at a mirror image of the single most important woman in her life. A woman who had died twelve years ago due to terminal disease, a woman who had inspired both Hercule and Videl to grow strong and enjoy their lives, because they were so short. The one woman Videl had wanted to know better all her life, but never had a chance too.

Still half-drunk with sleepiness, Videl half-lifted herself off the bed, tears jumping to her eyes as words suddenly flowed.

"Mom…"

* * *

As always, thanks to my beta Kushin eX for going over this chapter and correcting any mistakes I have made.

Please leave a review telling me what you think.


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: don't own DBZ or anything related to it.

Clone names:

Gohan – Nahog  
Videl – Levid  
Vegeta – Furuti  
Trunks – Tapara  
Bulma – Ropa

* * *

"What the hell!" Videl shouted, nearly jumping through the roof as she shot into movement upon seeing the ghost of her mother at her bedside. Videl had already thrown the covers off of herself and was halfway to rolling out of her bed and into a fighting pose, when the ghost suddenly appeared at that side of the bed.

"What's wrong Dolly?" she asked, using the nickname Videl's mother had always used.

"What's wrong? You're dead! You've been dead for the last four years, what the hell is going on here! I'm going insane…"

"Calm down Dolly, calm down." The Ghost said, placing a soothing hand on Videl's head and sliding down to rub her cheek affectionately. "There's nothing wrong with you, maybe you're still just dreaming, or maybe I'm really here. Who can tell, but what does it matter?"

The familiar, soothing motion of her mother's hand rubbing down her hair – just like when she had still been alive – calmed Videl down, but it still didn't do anything to explain the situation.

"But…" Before Videl could say more, the Ghost had already placed a finger on her lips to silence her. Oddly enough, Videl didn't feel any pressure whatsoever from the contact.

"Hush Dolly, I already know what's going on. I've never been far from you, even if you didn't know it. I still asked you, because I want to know what you feel about it."

"Ok, fine!" Videl said, almost exploding with anger suddenly. "I'll just accept I'm having a weird dream or something. So, let's talk. What'd you want to know?"

"Now, now Videl; didn't I always tell you to question everything? Don't take something at face value, just because that's easy."

Now that was just like her mother. Never take anything from granted, always ask any and everything out until the person she was talking to was almost going crazy because of the questions.

"Mom, I'll just assume this is a dream to make things easy, that's all. And I believe you wanted to know my feelings about this huge bucket of shit I'm in right now? Well, I'm pissed like I've never been before. The one guy I like – and I mean really, really like! – turns out to be some sort of psycho rapist slash mass murderer who's been playing a game with me all along. I'm pissed about that, I'm pissed about him managing to play me like a fool when I should have been smarter then that. I'm somewhat confused because my heart still won't listen to my head. But most of all…"

Despite having gone into a rant easily because of the thought she was in a dream, this was still not easy to admit. Videl had her pride and, no matter if she was having a dream or not, it still controlled her. But the way the Ghost was looking at her… as it always did, that simple raised eyebrow and questioning look got Videl talking before she even realized it.

"But most of all I'm scared mom. I'm scared because of what I saw Gohan could do, scared because he hurt me so easily. Scared because of what he did to Dad and the others in the gym and what happened at the World Summit. The things he did… they weren't natural! No-one should be able to do that… I always thought that Dad was right, that they were simply tricks, stuff only a magician would be able to use."

"Well, obviously it's not." The Ghost said, though her voice wasn't as harsh as it could have been. "But you forget everything what I've taught you Dolly. Never take anything for granted, always ask questions. What were the questions you must always have answered?"

"What's going on, why's it happening? Who's involved and where did it start?" Videl answered almost mechanically. Her mother had told her that almost every day, and it was the basis for Videl's work as a detective, whenever she helped the police with more then just brute muscle work. It was a simple concept, but if often worked perfectly.

"Exactly. Now, we know what's going on and who's involved, so that leaves two more questions; why's it happening and where did it start? So, why's this boy doing what he did? Why did he suddenly change his behavior the way he did? What part was acted and what was the real him, why did he suddenly turn into a criminal? So many questions you can not answer, but should."

Slowly Videl stood up, not caring that she was walking around in her rather cold bedroom in nothing but her panties, as her mind raced.

'_Mom's right, I've been doing nothing all these months. What did happen to Gohan that he suddenly changed like that? The Ox King said he__ suffered several severe __traumas__ as a child, but what happened to him? How can they suddenly make him a criminal mastermind now, or was my classmate the act?'_

"You're right Mom," Videl started as she turned around, ready to talk to her mother's ghost some more, but the bed was now completely empty; no ghost, anything or –one else was in the room besides Videl. "I'll find out the truth. I swear I'll discover what the hell is going on here."

XxX

"What's wrong with Levid, she's really sleeping in." Tapara asked as he munched on another piece of toast, his fiftieth so far. The clones were the only ones left at the breakfast table, since the other residents of the hideout had already finished their breakfast and returned to their tasks. Nahog, Furuti and Tapara were still eating, their Saiyan appetite far from sated, and without anything else to do Ropa had joined them. Yet Levid had not even shown her face, despite it being well past ten o'clock now.

"That's odd, isn't it?" Ropa said with a grin. "I mean, our room is next to your room Nahog, and I know that usually she goes to sleep a lot more exhausted then yesterday, but why's she sleeping in this much?"

The look she was giving Nahog made sure there was no doubt about what she meant by Levid going to sleep exhausted and it made the teen blush. He was, after all, still a teenager and such a blatant reverence to his sexual life made him uncomfortable. Before he could come up with a retort or react to Tapara's questioning look – despite his teenage appearance, he still had the mind of an eight-year old at times, so he didn't quite understand the reference – he was saved by the door opening.

Levid, wearing clothes she had obviously put on as soon as she got out of bed, walked into the dining room while scratching her belly with one hand and ruffling her hair with the other. Upon seeing the others in the room, she yawned a greeting and grabbed some toast from the plate as she sat down.

"Good morning," she said in between bites and yawns, "sorry about oversleeping like this, but I had a lot of trouble falling asleep last night." Three hungry bites later, the first piece of toast had disappeared and the black-haired girl was already smearing peanut butter on the second piece.

"So, what was wrong with you?" Tapara asked as he gulped down his fifth half-gallon of tea. "Mom said you're usually a lot more exhausted but don't sleep in as much."

Fortunately for Levid, she was too concentrated on her toast to notice the sudden red that appeared on Nahog's face, or the barely-held laughter by both Ropa and Furuti. Instead she simply gave the answer to the question.

"Well, I've had a bit of trouble sleeping because my stomach was playing up again. It wasn't anything serious, just some small cramps and a lot of gas, but it was still pretty annoying. It was almost sunrise by the time I finally fell asleep."

At the mention of gas, Tapara suddenly looked disgusted and pushed his plate away, proclaiming he was done with breakfast and quickly stood up. Without missing a beat, Furuti – who had simply ignored Levid's comment – took the plate his son had abandoned and began to shove that all down his throat as well. At the other end of the table, Nahog was also finishing up his meal, but as he stood up his eyes were glued to Levid as he looked on with a suspicious look. Something wasn't right here, but what was it?

XxX

At the Satan residence, Hercule was sitting at the dinning table, reading a newspaper while eating his breakfast as usually, when Videl walked in. Under normal circumstances Hercule would have given her a quick look, greeted her good morning and then continued to read his newspaper, but today Hercule dropped his paper as soon as he had a good look at his daughter.

Videl was looking as pale as a ghost, had large bags under her eyes and generally looked like she hadn't slept a wink that night. Considering all that had happened lately, that could mean a lot. Even Hercule, for all his strength and resilience, was still not fully recovered from everything that had happened these past few months, but who could tell what had happened to Videl.

"Videl, Honey, what's wrong with you? You look terrible, did anything happen? Did you have nightmares again?" Videl had suffered more then one nightmare because of the things that had happened, courtesy of that madman Gohan, and Videl was almost cursing himself for thinking all the events at the World Summit would leave his girl completely unaffected.

"No dad, I didn't have any nightmares." Videl assured. Her voice wasn't as weak as he had expected, sounding quite determined, powerful and overall healthy. Nothing like what she had sounded after the nightmares, where she had woken up screaming and crying every night. "I was just restless tonight. I woke up really early, and I couldn't get back to sleep. Other than that, I'm fine. Honestly, it's restlessness." As if to prove her point, Videl devoured several pieces of toast with royal servings of peanut butter on them, before rushing to the bathroom to get changed for school.

When Hercule saw her again, after Videl had taken her morning shower and gotten changed, he had to admit she was looking a lot better. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and a cheerful goodbye, before dashing out of the door. Hercule, stunned and surprised by the sudden energy his daughter had, was left staring at the door. When she was this full of energy, it filled his heart with happiness, and also reminded him just how much she looked like her mother. If her hair was a bit longer, and her eyes brown instead of blue, she would have been a carbon copy of Hercule's late wife.

As Videl made her way to school, she met up with Erasa and Sharpener at their usually spot. At Videl's cheerful greeting – the most cheerful she had given them in nearly three months – Sharpener suddenly turned away with what Videl was sure were tears in his eyes, while Erasa gave her the biggest bear-hug the tiny girl could manage.

"Oh Vi, it's great to have you back to yourself!" the blond exclaimed, while Sharpener seemed to recover a bit too. "Yeah, glad to see you've gotten your spark back." Was all he said, still not looking Videl in the eye.

"Thanks you two. You're not going to believe the weird dream I had last night! It was the weirdest dream ever, but it did something to me." Videl explained as the trio walked to school together as always. "I got some new inspiration in the biggest case I've ever been involved in. I'm going to find out just what exactly is going on, and why."

This sudden proclamation startled her two blond friends, who gave her a surprised look before they both gave a grin.

"Well, if you need some help, let us know ok!" Erasa immediately said, giving Videl another hug. This time, however, Sharpener also joined in, his long arms easily covering both girls as he gave a brief but tight hug.

"Vi, it's great to have you back!"

XxX

As the sky darkened outside, Chichi returned to the living room after having tucked in the three children. Naturally, Trunks and Goten had objected to having to go to sleep, but a single look from the Son matron silenced them both. Marron was already falling asleep when she had been placed in the bed, being far less excitable then the two boys.

There was little activity in the living room when Chichi entered. Most of the people present were watching TV, listening to the news report, when suddenly the door burst open and Yamcha appeared in the middle of the room, a broad grin on his face.

"Guys, I just had a brilliant idea!" He pronounced as he dropped his bag. It landed on the floor with a loud thud, but it was ignored as Yamcha announced his idea.

"So, I was at baseball training, when Brian – a pitcher on the team – started bitching about how he had a fight with his girlfriend and how he 'wished he could get to understand her'. That reminded me of the Dragonballs; why don't we call Shenron and wish for him to take care of the whole situation!"

It was silent for a few seconds as everyone thought, before they burst out and started talking to one another about the idea. Only Piccolo, Gohan and Dende didn't seem relieved by the idea.

"And how do you suppose we let the Dragon take care of this situation?" Piccolo asked. "Don't forget that Shenron can not kill anyone with the wishes."

"We don't have to." Yamcha countered, as if he had expected this argument. "Right now our main problem is us having to operate in the shadow while the entire world is in chaos and ready to tear us apart. Our actions at the World Summit showed them that energy users aren't evil per say, but what if we wished for the Dragon to give everyone knowledge of the truth? Let them know about Nahog and Gohan, know about the clones and that the real Gohan isn't evil?"

"Yeah, that might work." Gohan agreed, along with almost everyone else, before Bulma stood up with a sour face.

"I'm afraid it won't be that simple." She started, her tone instantly quieting everyone else in the room. "We can't just give everyone all the knowledge and hope to be welcomed back as heroes. Let everyone know the truth and what will they know? The real Gohan isn't a mass rapist, or a psycho terrorist, true. But he's still the reason Nahog and the others exist, just like I am. Tell people about clones being real and being evil and they'll lose all trust in each other, not knowing who's real and who's not. But most importantly; normal people won't be able to tell the difference between Gohan and Nahog. Hell, even Chichi and I can't tell the difference of their appearance. You guys only know it because you can sense his energy."

"But Bulma, if everyone knew the truth, we could get their help…" Puar started, "We could find out where they're hiding really quickly."

"No we wouldn't. Knowledge is important and so is the truth, but it all depends on how the information is presented. Just hand the knowledge to them, without any bias or something of the sort, and we'll look as guilty as the clones. People will call for our heads on a stick as much as the clones'. If we want the public on our side, we have to give parts of the information they need – and nothing more, sometimes it best to keep part of the truth hidden – and present it in a way that will benefit us."

"But even if we give everyone enough knowledge and get them over on our side, which shouldn't be difficult with the Dragonballs, it still doesn't solve our problem." Piccolo argued. Next to him, Gohan was already losing himself in his thoughts, but the Namek didn't stop.

"Get the entire planet on our side and we will cause Nahog and the others to panic, maybe even go desperate. And if they panic or get desperate, they might take the easy way out killing us all and blow up the planet. Don't forget, each of us can destroy this planet with one hand; it'll be just as easy for them to do so. No, we can't afford to use the Dragonballs, unless we have the clones dealt with."

"Not necessarily." Gohan suddenly said; his voice soft and slow as he was still thinking. "We can use the Dragon to ensure our victory, but only once we know all the pieces on the board. You're right that, if they panic, the clones can easily blow up the planet and kill everyone, including themselves. But what if we gather the Dragonballs, without them ever finding it out? I have a plan and the Dragonballs are central in that plan. We go out and find the Dragonballs, but we can't let Nahog know. So we'll need to make some preparations first…"

XxX

"Hey Kai, here's your coffee." Reginald said, sliding the extra large cappuccino with extra sugar, two shots of espresso and chocolate sprinklings across the table. "Mitchels just brought it in."

"Thanks Reg." Kaikaina said, though she didn't touch the cup at all. She was reading through some of the reports again. "You know, as much as I hate to admit it, this fucker might just be the most impressive criminal I've ever encountered." There was no need to ask who she was talking about, consider there was only one case that the brown-and-grey-haired chain-smoker was working on.

"How so?" Reginald asked, sitting next to Kaikaina with his large cup of tea. "I mean, aside from the fact that he's a teenager, super-intelligent, seemingly in command – or at least in a high position – of several international crime organizations, super-strong and good looking? What made you suddenly admit that he's impressive?"

"I've been reading over the reports from his initial victims again, and it's impressive how he did things. I can't reach any other conclusion then that this kid planned everything from the get-go. Every single one of those girls he had raped was played perfectly. If they wanted to meet a strong, cool and amusing guy, he was strong, cool and amusing. If they wanted a deep, emotional and scared sweetie, he was that. He was different with each one of those girls, every single word he said to them outside of school was exactly what they wanted to hear, how they wanted to hear it. It wasn't just what he said, but he's also used perfect intonations and an all-round level of psychological manipulation unlike anything I've ever encountered."

She glanced around to make sure the door was closed before lighting up a cigarette. There was a strict no-smoking policy in the police station, but Reginald knew better then to try and argue with his partner about her habit. Even the commissioner couldn't talk her out of smoking the deathsticks.

"Now, as you know, I've been involved in several cases of kidnapping and forced prostitution, so I've seen my share of charmers, but seriously, this guy takes the cake. Even after he raped them – in some cases, several times – the girls still have lingering feelings for him. But the odd thing is… he never, _ever_ showed any interested in any of those girls at school. It was probably part of the act to ensure he could charm so many girls, but at school he played the unsocial geek that no-one really liked or hated. It doesn't make any sense to me."

"Well, what doesn't make any sense to me," Reginald started, looking over the file in his hands, "is why he messed up writing his own name when he announced himself to the world. He blew up the C.C. main building as a signal to start a world-wide crime-wave. Each of the five waves of bank robberies spelled one letter of his name, but they messed it up. Instead of spelling G-O-H-A-N it spelled N-H-A-O-G. Why mess it up like that? It couldn't have been in an attempt to hide his identity; everyone would know his name as soon as his raping of Videl became knowledge. Not to mention his little stunt at the Satan Mansion. Every single one of his rape victims could name him and point him out at a picture spread, so there's no point in keeping it secret."

"What the fuck!" Kai suddenly yelled, touching her computer screen to freeze the image she was watching. She had the images of the World Summit on repeat for hours now, and apparently she had just noticed something from the corner of her eye that caught her attention.

"Reg, come check this out. I think we just reached a new level of weirdness with this whole pile of shit."

"What's up Kai?" Reginald quickly moved over to see what the senior detective was pointing too. It was a particularly blurry moment that the cameras in the room had recorded; when several of the bodyguards suddenly appeared before the politicians as Gohan and an accomplice walked out of the smoke. Before either form could clearly be seen, the cameraman had disappeared from the room, but Kai had frozen the image just before the cameraman had been moved out of the room.

It showed Gohan half-appearing out of the smoke and debris, his accomplish right behind him and almost visible.

"Take a look at this. This small dude with the muscles and the weird hair-style is Vegeta Briefs, the formerly unknown husband of Bulma Briefs. No-one knows where the guy came from, but about eight years ago Bulma Briefs suddenly married him. Since then there's been no big news about them, except that they seem a perfectly happy couple to the world. No affairs, fights or anything to draw the paparazzi attention. But the man's hairstyle is unique as far as we know. Now look at Gohan's accomplice's hair. It's the exact same style. They're even the same size…"

"You're right Kai. What the fuck is going on around here? And what's more… I could have sworn I saw that dude somewhere else, I just can't remember where…"

* * *

As always thanks to my beta Kushin eX for going over this chapter.

Please let me know what you think of this chapter in a review


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: don't own DBZ or anything related to it.

Clone names:

Gohan – Nahog  
Videl – Levid  
Vegeta – Furuti  
Trunks – Tapara  
Bulma – Ropa

* * *

As had become usual in the months since everyone had moved in, Oolong's mansion was bustling with activity again. As soon as Gohan had revealed his new plan, Bulma had commandeered one of the larger rooms and had quickly converted it into a make-do lab. Some fifty phone calls, five days and several hundreds of thousands of zenies after Gohan's plan had been revealed, Bulma was ready to get to work. But she had to work fast; by now her clone must also have everything ready to build a dragon-radar, so she was having a race against the clock.

While Bulma was doing her mechanics inside, the activities on the outside were far more dangerous. Invisible to the normal human eye but more dangerous than a missile impact, the Z-fighters were outside training. Since their training gave more then a few complaints about property damage, sound overload, distraction and sonic booms in general, the group of super warriors had moved their training away and was instead fighting above the clouds in the sky.

This presented significant problems for Goten, who had only recently learned how to fly, since he still had to focus on flying and couldn't fully focus on fighting. Fortunately for him, moving was the exact focus of his training for today. Along with Trunks, Goten was currently undergoing training with Gohan, learning how to work together in a fight against a stronger opponent, but most of the training consisted of the two boys running away from Gohan. He was just too strong, fast and experienced for them to catch.

So, by now the two pre-teens were already covered in bruises and their clothes were torn, but they still had to stay alert. Gohan was much more adapt at real combat than they were and with his speed it was possible for him to suddenly appear behind them, or above them, or even below and strike at once.

That is exactly what he did. Suddenly appearing behind the two, Gohan immediately punched Goten in the back, sending him crying out in pain and knocked off-course, while he turned around and planted his knee in Trunks' stomach without pause. The lavender-haired youth immediately bended over, his lunch violently leaving his mouth, but Gohan was suddenly distracted.

One hand shot up to his ear as if he was listening, then he looked in a north-west direction – turning his back on the two midgets he was fighting – and pushed a button on his earpiece to increase the volume. The scanner Bulma had built into Gohan's helmet was also linked to this earpiece, so Gohan could receive incoming emergency calls right away.

"Hey guys, I'll be going away for a bit. There's a situation in Satan City." Without waiting for a response, Gohan ducked down to evade the surprise attack of the two miniature half-Saiyans, struck both in the chest and flew off while they were still recovering. A press of his watch later Gohan had transformed into Saiyaman, ready to interfere. It hadn't even taken him two minutes to arrive at the scene since he had first picked up the signal.

But apparently, he wasn't the only one who could move that fast.

The yellow jetcopter that had almost crashed into the roof was a clear hint, but the one criminal that smashed through a window on the fifth floor, only barely prevented from falling down, was a clear indication that Videl was already on the scene and she was doing some extensive work.

'_God;__ what a woman._' Gohan's thoughts got ahead of him, but he recovered and quickly landed on the roof as well. He had recognized the name on the building as one that Sharpener had told him about a long time ago. Apparently, this was one of several 'Houses of Pleasure' – as Bulma had described to an embarrassed Gohan – that were in Satan City. Gohan actually thought that Sharpener's explanation of a 'Whore-house' was a lot clearer.

And from the sounds of it, along with all the miniature energy signals that were spiking, there was a massive fight going on, with Videl stuck right in the middle of it.

Rushing through the building, Gohan saw Videl exiting one of the rooms and slowed down to prevent himself from crashing into her. When he came closer though, he immediately noticed a difference in her. Since becoming Saiyaman, Gohan had met with Videl several times, but she'd always been sort of down. Of course, that was completely understandable considering what had happened to her, but today… today the lights could have gone out in the entire world, and in Gohan's eyes Videl would have blotted out the sun.

There was an almost visible glow around her now, just like there had been before all this had happened, when she took pride on being the best crime fighter in town and the best known female fighter in the world. It was like she was back to her old self again. She turned to look at him, fists ready to fight but relaxing the moment she recognized his ridiculous helmet. A clear view of her eyes, he saw that she had fully regained her old spark; her eyes were alive, flashing all over and showing that she was definitely on to something.

"Saiyaman, thanks for showing GET DOWN!" Videl jumped at the green-clad superhero, pulling him down with her weight just as bullets started to fly through the sky. Naturally, Gohan didn't even feel the few bullets that did hit his back, but Videl's reaction was fully normal. Gohan's physical reaction to her sudden closeness was too, so if the green toga hadn't reached well past his waist he would have had some serious explaining to do.

'_It's not my fault!_' he immediately argued with himself, forgetting the surrounding drama, '_She's… rubbing me… I think I really like this feeling._' Videl releasing her hold on him and reaching for a coin on the ground got his attention back to the real world.

"Like I just said!" Videl continued a sentence that Gohan had obviously missed, "Something went wrong in here and both the clients and employees started pulling weapons on each other. Unless we get this under control quick we're going to have to clean up a lot of bodies."

"I understand Miss Satan." Gohan raised his voice to the super-high superhero voice without a problem now. "Now, allow me to deal with our current situation. Please give me a second."

Standing up, Gohan caught the bullets that were still being fired at them; then launched one with his finger. The bullet went back into the gun's barrel with perfect accuracy, destroying the firearm and allowing Videl to knock the man out with a perfectly-executed flying kick. As she turned around, Saiyaman had already disappeared, moving through the building at a speed only he could manage safely and destroying weaponry left, right and center.

All in all, Gohan made sure not to actually strike any people, he left that to Videl. There was no telling how much he might miscalculate his strength and accidentally kill someone. Much better to just take out their firearms then intimidate them into surrendering. Saiyaman's reputation – good and bad parts included – made it much easier.

With the police also working their way from the bottom up to stop the fights, the situation was resolved within minutes of Saiyaman's arrival. After he had checked up with the police captain in charge to make sure there were minimal injuries – five serious, twenty-nine minor wounds out of well over two-hundred people involved – and five dead bodies, Gohan made his way back to the rooftop. Much to his surprise, Videl was still standing there, casually leaning against her jetcopter.

As soon as she noticed he had arrived, she looked at him and gave a smile that made Gohan's heart indecisive between skipping beats and breaking a world-record. He settled for a polite, but awkward wave.

"Hello Miss Videl, I didn't expect you to still be here." He started, not knowing what else to say.

"Yeah, about that…" She started, stepping away from her copter and walking over. "I'm afraid I was a bit too hasty when landing. It's crashed and now it's stuck in one of the building's air conditioners. I was kinda hoping you could maybe help me out?"

"Of course, not a problem at all. Anything to help an outstanding citizen like yourself." He had to force himself to add the last part, but it sounded good enough. Without any effort Gohan tore the remains of the air conditioner apart and easily lifted the jetcopter with one hand. "Seems like there's some small damage to the metalwork, but the engine should still be fine." He informed Videl as he set the device down.

"Thanks." She said, coming to stand next to him. "And not just for the copter. Thanks for… helping me out just now and… ya know."

"You're looking a lot better." The sentence had slipped out before Gohan could stop himself, his voice nearly dropping back to it's normal tone before he caught himself. Maybe it was because Videl was just so… back to normal now, but he couldn't help but remarking it.

"Yeah I guess. Everyone says so. I feel a lot better too." As if to emphasize her point, Videl made a gesture at her entire body. "A couple of days ago, I had a bit of a wake-up call. A wake-up call I never expected to have, but still a wake-up call. It… shook me up pretty bad, made me realize that I really needed to start working on this case myself, discover what the hell is going on for myself."

"What happened then?" By now Gohan was back to his superhero voice, though he had to force himself to stay still instead of walking closer to Videl and swooping her up in his arms. "Did one of your friends or maybe your father say something to you?"

"No, no it's nothing like that." Videl's eyes dropped down to the ground and she started playing with her ponytail, a telltale sign she was embarrassed about something.

"Well, what is it?" Gohan asked further, carefully taking a step closer, but still outside of her personal space.

"Ok, I know you'll be quiet about this, so I guess I can tell you. But you have to promise me not to laugh at it!" Videl now tightly held both her ponytails tightly, her cheeks marked with red as she literally got in Saiyaman's face. She backed off a bit and sat down on one of the many other air conditioners on the roof. Taking the hint, Gohan sat down next to her.

"The truth is… I had a dream where I met my mother again. She… she died some time ago, but she was there in my dream, just as I remembered her! She talked to me for a bit, made me remember what she taught me. To always question everything that's going on, because that's the only way to get to the real answers. And so, I thought that she was right. I need to question what's going on more. The when, the where, the why, the how, everything. I need to know everything about what's going on!"

Gohan was silent throughout her monologue, only listening but his mind was spinning.

"So," Videl continued, "I'm now working on getting as much background information on Gohan as is possible. I want to know what happened to him, why he changed like he did, when it happened and, most importantly… which version of him is real."

XxX

Meanwhile, in a specially created underground training room, the newest enemies of the Z-fighters were also training. Or at least, two of them were training, supervised by a third, while the other two where in another room, talking to each other.

After they had all reflected on the battles at the World Summit, the reason the plan had failed was more then clear; not only had Gohan altered his plans enough to surprise them – which was no doubt influenced by the suggestions on the others, as Nahog had said – but the other big contribution was the inability of both Tapara and Ropa to fight properly. Ropa's power was too inconsistent, while Tapara's coordination was all gone.

The reason for those problems was easy to discover; Tapara's brain had not had a chance to change during puberty, so the signals his brain sent for movement were for child-sized limbs, instead of his adult-length ones. Aside from that, there were also other problems like hormones and the like, all of which had occurred because of his rapid aging and inability to get used to his body.

Ropa's power control problem, on the other hand, had an entirely different cause; the energy she now possessed was not naturally part of her body, so she didn't have full control over the amount of energy she used.

Both situations fortunately had a good solution that Furuti was all too supportive of; start training to increase the control you have over your body! Which was exactly what the three Briefs clones were now doing. Furuti was teaching both his son and his wife how to use their bodies properly in fights.

Nahog, on the other hand, was trying to have a talk with Levid. And that talk was going bad, fast.

"Why won't you just leave me alone!" Levid yelled, getting up close in Nahog's face, her finger jabbing the half-human's broad chest for emphasis.

"And why are you overreacting like this!" Nahog shouted back just as hard. "I'm just worried about you. Lately, you always stay up late. You never sleep with me anymore and you're always exhausted in the mornings. What's going on?"

"So that's what you're worried about?" Levid's voice turned to a whole new level of anger. "Afraid you lost your bedroom delight? That's what you're going on about, well you listen to me mister. If I don't want to go to sleep with you, I damn well sleep alone, or somewhere else or whatever the hell I want!"

"This isn't about having sex with you!" Nahog immediately returned, a blush appearing on his face, much to his annoyance. Despite the irritation at the blush, his voice did drop down to a mere whisper almost immediately. "I'm… I'm just worried about you, ok. I don't know what you're thinking anymore. Ever since the World Summit you've been so quiet. You never talk to me anymore; I want to know what you're doing."

Now Levid stepped back as well, her anger disappearing as well. She had told Nahog about sneaking into Oolong's mansion, but he had snapped at her. Even when they were training together he was distant, but then again, so was she.

"Look… I'm doing some training on my own as well alright. That's why I'm gone most of the nights, so I can do some more training on my own. I just saw how much more powerful you guys all are to me, so I figured I needed some extra training." She smoothly lied. Fortunately, lying was one of the things that came almost naturally to her, though of course she had never said that to anyone. "It's nothing to worry about, so please, don't."

XxX

As was happening quiet often lately, Gohan was alone and working behind his computer in the conference room. In preparation for the battle with Nahog, which depended on planning as much as physical combat, Gohan had taken to researching previous battles in the history of the earth. Wars, vendettas and even fictional battles, Gohan looked at them all in hope of getting inspiration and a way to defeat Nahog.

But as it was now, Gohan was distracted by something else entirely. His mind kept racing back to the conversation he had with Videl earlier that same day. When she had told him how she'd gotten back to her old self. But how on earth does a teenager suddenly have such a realistic dream of her dead mom, who she's never dreamed about before, and have it suddenly change her entire behavior like that?

"No matter how I look at it, it doesn't make any sense." Gohan talked to himself a lot when he was alone, but he wasn't sure if it was because he was loosing his mind or because it helped him think. Maybe it was a bit of both. "It could have something to do with that Videl clone that Goten and the others talked about, but why? Every move Nahog's made so far has all been about destroying me, mostly through Videl. Why would he suddenly want her back on her feet?"

Agitated, Gohan got to his feet and started pacing the room, another, older question also popping up.

"But why on earth did he clone Videl in the first place? He only had four cloning tubes, that's all we had created, so why did he waste one on Videl? He could have made another clone of himself, or Vegeta. Krillin or Tien are also strong enough to fight most of us, even Yamcha would make sense, but why Videl? And for that matter, why Trunks and Bulma? Trunks was strong, but inexperienced. Anyone of the Z-fighters could defeat Trunks by playing their cards right, especially now that he had no control over his adult body. And Bulma, a non-combatant, was raised to their level despite the risks… why those clones? Only Vegeta makes any sense at all."

However, before Gohan had a chance to once again to over the long list of reasons why the selection of clones doesn't make sense, he was suddenly hit from behind and could barely stop himself from crashing into the wall. Turning around, he saw Trunks and Goten, once again having one of their wrestling matches, roll through the room. They left dents everywhere in the floor, but still continued their bout.

Right until they crashed into the table, sending it flying, along with the computer that was standing atop the table. The machine flew around the room, with Gohan barely being able to catch it before it smashed into another wall. With Gohan's sudden raising of his power level, the two brats stopped their fighting and looked over at Gohan.

Frustrated at having his thoughts interrupted and more then a bit angry at nearly losing all his research material, Gohan didn't say anything. He didn't trust his own mouth right now; his temper had been far too explosive lately. So instead he simply glared at the two as best he could. the effect was instantaneous; Goten, as he always did when someone was angry at him, smiled apologetically, nervously rubbing the back of his head like his brother and father always did as well.

Trunks on the other hand…

Trunks was as pale as a ghost, his eyes wide in fear and pain and literally shaking where he stood. After shaking for a second or two, his eyes suddenly rolled up and the boy fell to the floor unconscious. This unexpected reaction from the loud and – by his own admission – fearless purple-haired boy surprised Gohan enough to drop the glare and instead look concerned. Goten was also looking at his best friend, clearly not knowing what's going on, but Gohan had already scooped Trunks up before the boy could hit the ground.

Less then a second later Gohan was in the living room and laid Trunks on the sofa, while he immediately called out for Dende. Having been enjoying a quiet moment of meditation in the same room, the Guardian of the Earth was healing the boy before anyone else could do anything.

But the cry Gohan had given out, along with the cries and general chaos Goten was now causing out of concern for his friend; alerted everyone else that something was going on. With the exception of Yamcha, Tien, Chiaotzu and the Ox King – Yamcha was at baseball training, while Chiaotzu and the Ox King had returned to their respective homes for the day to keep an eye on things, Tien going along with the emperor as his adviser and bodyguard – everyone was quickly gathered in the room.

Seeing her son unconscious on the sofa, Bulma rushed over to see what was happening. Dende removed his hands, giving the near-hysterical mother some room to show her concern.

"He's ok, there's nothing wrong with him." The Namek told Gohan, as Trunks began to open his eyes. "What happened?"

"Yes brat, start talking." Vegeta still had his arms crossed over his chest as usual, but there was no mistaking the aura of anger that the prince emitted. "What happened?"

"I was in the conference room, thinking about why Nahog had made the clones that he has, when Goten and Trunks barreled right into me and then the table. They tore the table to shreds and nearly destroyed my computer in the process. I glared at them and suddenly Trunks goes all white and passes out." Gohan admitted, now holding down an equally hysterical Goten. No-one doubted Gohan's explanation, because the two boys had been holding wrestling matches all week.

"Mom, let me go!" Trunks had apparently recovered enough to argue with his overbearing mother, which was a good sign. With enough prying and gentle pushing, the boy finally got his mother off of him, only to find himself the center of attention. And not in a way the boy liked.

"Trunks, what happened to you?" Bulma asked, still staying close to her son.

"N-nothing!" he said, far too quickly to be remotely believable. "I… was kinda sleepy after wrestling with Goten!" As he made up the pathetic lie, Trunks' eyes settled on his father, who was simply looking at the boy. Ashamed by how pathetic he was looking, Trunks diverted his eyes and instead looked at the ground.

"Trunks," Bulma started again. "What happened?"

"Mom, I… I to-"

"Trunks, a true warrior does not lie!" Vegeta suddenly interrupted, much to the surprise of everyone present. "What happened?"

"Ehm… well… when we hit the table, everything on it went flying." The boy suddenly admitted, although he still didn't raise his head from looking at the floor. "Gohan was glaring at us all of a sudden… and I… I got… really scared. It… was just… it's the same as when Nahog was threatening me!" the last was blurted out, like it would have been better if he had said it fast.

"I'm sorry Trunks." Gohan said as he sat down in a seat on the other side of the room. "I didn't mean to scare you like that. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, of course I'm alright." The boy's attempt at bravado was commendable, but it helped little. "But whenever I remember how Nahog looked at me I feel cold shivers running down my back." The last bit was obviously not meant to be said aloud, but Gohan did hear it. The oldest half-Saiyan's head suddenly shot up as he looked at the purple-haired boy, a look of wonder on his face.

"Say that again!" He ordered. Although surprised, Trunks complied.

"I said that whenever I remember how Nahog looked at me I feel scared." Trunks softly said, now thoroughly embarrassed about it.

Without warning Gohan shot up out of his seat, shouting. "THAT'S IT!" everyone looked surprised by the sudden shout, but before they could ask anything else, Gohan dashed out of the room.

"I've gotta check up on something. Oolong, I'm borrowing your computer for some quick research. I'll explain when I get some more backing for my theory."

XxX

As he evaded yet another punch with ease, Furuti looked at his son before counterattacking. In a fight of equals, the lack of immediate response would have cost him, but Tapara was no match for his father, especially with his coordination as disturbed as it was. That was the reason they were training now, without Ropa around. Furuti was giving his son a crash course in properly controlling his body in a fight.

The training had already lasted well over four hours in which Furuti had only allowed two short bathroom breaks. Since the training had all taken place in their normal forms Furuti felt no strain whatsoever. Tapara, on the other hand, was sweating enough to completely drench his shirt and pants. Noticing this, Furuti still stepped in closer and slammed his fist into his son's abdomen. Most of the times Furuti only slightly tapped his son's body to alert him of an opening during this training, but the biggest and sloppiest of errors were rewarded with pain like this.

The hit send the purple-haired boy flying, landing against a wall with a sound in between a 'Splat' and a 'Crash'; exhaustion was reducing the control the boy had over his body.

'_Of course he's exhausted._' Furuti thought, looking as his son was struggling to keep his body in a solid state. '_Well over three hours of training, including taking my punches._' Tapara looked up at his father, his face a combination of determination and shame at failing to meet his father's expectations. The look that Furuti could remember from the Hyperbollic Time Chamber. Back when the Original Vegeta and Trunks from the Future had trained there, Trunks had often worn that expression as well. The memory made Furuti think.

Stepping closer to his son, Furuti gave a signal to Tapara to stop his struggling to stand.

"Relax Tapara, we're going to take a few minutes of rest." The Saiyan said, sitting down next to his son. Obviously this was also a surprise, if the look on Tapara's face was anything to go by.

"Sorry dad." The teen started. "I'm sorry for all this." He gestured at himself, though he specifically pointed out his right hand, which was starting to transform into liquid metal again.

"You've got nothing to be sorry about." Furuti said, purposely avoiding his son's eyes. The next words he was going to say were ones that he had wanted to speak since he first laid eyes on the boy, but had never seen… appropriate. For some reason, the proud Saiyan – both the clone and the original – had never been able to say the words. "You… you've done well. You're improving as expected."

The words came out as a rush, but at last they where out. Tapara's eyes where as wide as saucers, clearly unable to believe what he had heard. Furuti, a light blush appearing on his face, turned his head away to avoid looking at his son. The words had been said, and they were meant, but the warrior prince still didn't feel comfortable with expressing such emotions.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, recovering from their awkward moment. Using the rest, Tapara had managed to return to a solid state again, but he didn't dare question the words his father had just said. It was almost too good to be true…

A knock on the door alerted the alien warriors that both Levid and Ropa were about to enter – Nahog's knocks were usually absent, since he had little to fear from taking one of Tapara's punches and Furuti had enough control to avoid hitting anyone he didn't want – so the two stood up.

"Nahog's upstairs, planning." Levid said as way of greeting. "So he won't be joining us for this training session."

"Very well then. Tapara, get on your feet. You're sparring with the girl. I'll continue teaching your mother the basics of fighting."

At once the purple-haired youth stood up – having recovered enough – and walked over to the attractive girl. They were often pared up; Levid's experience with martial arts but lack of knowledge on energy mixed well with Tapara's disrupted coordination but extensive knowledge of energy.

And, like happened almost every night, the four younger clones were in the specially-build basement, learning to control their particular abilities, while the oldest clone planned their strategy. With a battlecry, Tapara jumped forward, meeting Levid in mid-air.

* * *

As always, thanks to my beta Kushin eX for going over this chapter. Please let me know what you thought of it in a review.


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to DBZ or any of the other Dragonabll series.

As a reminder, here are the clone names again:  
Gohan – Nahog  
Videl – Levid  
Vegeta – Furuti  
Trunks – Tapara  
Bulma – Ropa

XXXxxxXXXxxx

The following morning, everyone save for Gohan was sitting at the breakfast-table, waiting for Vegeta to finish his last half-dozen sandwiches. As all members of the Briefs family already knew – and the others had quickly learned – Vegeta was rather strict when it came to certain manners. Including table manners. As long as there was still someone eating, no-one left the table was just one of the rules he enforced – with force if need be.

Suddenly Gohan barged into the room, still wearing the same clothing as yesterday, though his eyes looked noticeably tired and his hair was a mess. Even so, he entered with a triumphant look on his face.

"Where have you been!" Chichi shrieked as she leapt to embrace her son. She had checked on him last night and even at four a.m. he had not been sleeping in his bed.

"Sorry mom, I've been working all night. I needed to look up a lot of things and they took longer then I thought they would, even with using seven computers at once. Sorry Oolong, but I had to redecorate a bit to allow me to work with all those computers at once."

"Oh don't worry about it." The shapeshifting pig said with obvious sarcasm. "The working rooms where feeling left out, since they where the ONLY THING THAT HASN'T BEEN REMODELLED in the months you guys have been living here. How many walls did you tear down this time?"

"None, but I did make a couple of holes for the wires to pass through." Gohan looked rather guilty as he scratched the back of his head, a habit that had been missing for a long time.

"Well, on to the important things." Piccolo interrupted. While he did not eat, since Nameks survived on water alone, he had joined the table only out of politeness. Aside from that, it made a good place to do some small strategic discussions. "What did you discover?"

"Well, lemme start at the beginning," Gohan sighed, also sitting down.

"Gohan, articulate all your words!" Chichi immediately corrected, but Gohan was too busy slurping down a gallon of milk to hear his mother. Finishing the drink in mere seconds, the eldest son of Goku whipped his mouth and started talking.

"Yesterday, Trunks gave me the key with what he said. When he said that just remembering Nahog made him scared, it hit me."

"I never said I was scared!" Trunks immediately defended himself, but neither Goten nor his father paid any attention, just as they hadn't harassed the boy for admitting being frightened the day before.

"I already told you guys that the clones have all our memories, so they know everything we know. But there's another side to that, which I realized thanks to Trunks; memory and emotion are linked to one another. You can't have memory without emotion, like everyone knows. It isn't obvious, but you feel a certain something when you remember something. Let's say for example you remember your first love, you _feel_ butterflies floating through your stomach again. If you remember someone you had an argument or a fight with, you immediately _feel_ angry again."

At this, almost every head in the room nodded a slow agreement as they realized that Gohan was right. It was, however, such an obvious thing no-one had ever thought of linking it to the clones.

"Well, anyway, I've spend most of the night reading up on known literature concerning memory and emotions, and I've also watched every video of the clones that is available. That's why I needed multiple computers; i needed multiple screens to function at once and with my speed… it was pretty easy. But on to my main discovery; I'm now pretty much convinced that all of the clones share the emotional links of their originals."

"And why exactly do you say that?" Tien asked. Unlike the Turtle School students, Chichi or the kids he wasn't getting completely absorbed in the explanation. Bulma, Vegeta, Piccolo, #18 and Roshi also paid sharp attention to every word.

"It's the only explanation for why Nahog didn't do several things; why didn't he kill Yamcha at the world summit, even though he had a clear opportunity before I arrived? Because _I _can't kill Yamcha, since he's a friend. He hasn't seriously hurt anyone I know, not including Videl or Erasa. But maybe most importantly; it gives us a good reason why he cloned Trunks, Bulma and Videl. What he needed from those three clones wasn't their power – the fact that he altered them to such an extent pretty much proves that – but the emotional connections they gave him."

Gohan paused to immediately empty a bowl of cerial while this info was absorbed by the others. Before anyone could question him, however, he continued again.

"Nahog's main fighter is Vegeta's clone, the one that is no doubt the strongest and has the most dangerous ability. With his instant healing and Saiyan genes he gets stronger at an unbelievable rate. But why would Vegeta help me in a personal cause? He wouldn't, would you Vegeta?"

"Unless there was something for me to gain from it, or a powerful opponent to fight, then no." the Saiyan prince easily admitted.

"Which is why Nahog needed a bargaining chip so to speak. He cloned Bulma and Trunks because they would surely support his cause, simply because it's him asking. I think it's relatively safe to say that I can count on your support when I ask it, right?"

Both mother and son nodded their heads, realization dawning.

"And with Bulma and Trunks at my side, Vegeta wouldn't mind helping out, because his family's involved."

This received a short and obvious snort from Yamcha, but that was instantly silenced by the look of several others, most importantly Bulma. She might have been weaker then any fighter present – quite possible the weakest person in the room, since Oolong and Puar could shapeshift – but she still had a nasty glare.

"And what about Videl then?" Roshi interrupted before Bulma could explode at her former boyfriend. "Why'd he clone her?"

"Selfish reasons; _I _want Videl by my side, so he wants Videl by his side. What I felt for Videl might have simply been a crush on my side, or maybe something stronger; I might have been in love with her, but I'm not really sure."

At this sudden confession, both Chichi and Marron turned starry-eyed; love was, after all, the greatest thing in the world, especially when it concerned your teenage son or absolute idol.

"But because my feelings where so strong, that meant that Nahog's feelings for her where that strong too. And that's why he cloned her; to always have her by his side. He simply managed to get a sample of DNA before he raped her, so she has no memories of that event and doesn't remember ever growing to hate him."

"But if you both love her so much, how is it that Nahog raped her so easily? And then assaulted her again!" Krillin had apparently gotten his attention back and his brains working at full speed, because that was the big question.

"Glad you asked, that was the first thing I tried to discover when I made the connection," Gohan started, standing up and pacing around the room, "and from what I've learned, it's apparent that, in many cases of rape – especially between people who know each other – the rapist can delude himself – or herself, though that's rare – into thinking that what they're doing is consensual. Combined with his earlier courting of Videl, it becomes easy to imagine that he fooled himself into thinking it's consensual. And with the other girls… maybe it's because he doesn't know them or something, but I can't really find a reason for that, when I got to it, it was already breakfast time."

"Who can confirm that all the other girls where raped?" #18 suddenly said, her face a mask of focus as she thought as quickly as she could.

"What'd you mean? There are over twenty people who have been raped by him!" Gohan said, startled by #18's lack of knowledge.

"Correction." The beautiful android interrupted. "There are over twenty girls who _claim _he's raped them. We all accept this for truth, but what if most of them are lying? It's not unheard of that woman lie, you know, even – or maybe especially – about things like this. And if we assume that most of them lied, the answer becomes clear; Nahog tempted the majority of them, had consensual sex with them and only when it became known among the girls that he had sex with so many of them – and perhaps one or two accounts of rape before he continued on to Videl – they all claimed that they have been raped. Sometimes that's an easier solution then excepting that you fell for someone who dumped you right after he got what he wanted."

At this startling idea, everyone was silent for a number of minutes. The children where mostly shocked that people – even adults – would lie. After all, they always get punished when they lie, so why do adults still do it? To the others, the shocking idea of woman lying about something as serious as this… it had never even occurred to them, because it was too cruel and false a thing to lie about. This was no little white lie, but a serious disregard for the truth that caused harm to another person who might have not caused them any real harm or discomfort. Aside from the emotional pain of rejection, but hey, everyone got that more then once in their life right?

"Ehm, ok… I have to admit… I hadn't even considered that." Gohan slowly recovered, the very concept of people lying strange to him; Chichi had been very adamant about lying and the consequences of it. Adding to that that neither Goku nor Chichi had been adapt at it, or ever finding a need to lie, neither Gohan nor Gotan had never really gotten familiar with the concept of lying.

"It's a good theory, it's possible that it's true." He finally admitted, before turning back to his original subject. "but as I wanted to say before, aside from knowing the motives behind the unexplained clones, this also gives us the valuable knowledge of where Nahog will strike next; to find Nahog, we have to follow Videl. Right now she's the only link he has easy access to that'll hurt me. We both have feelings for her, but Nahog has her clone now, so he won't care about the real Videl anymore. As long as he doesn't have to do it himself, he'd have no problems ordering her hurt or worse."

XxX

Even though it was late afternoon, Nahog and Levid where lying in their bed, snuggling together. Although they where in their bed, sleep was far from their minds as they lay there, coated in a fine layer of sweat and still recovering from their last bout of passionate lovemaking.

"Hey Nahog," Levid started, propping herself up on an elbow, "why exactly do you hate Gohan so much? I have every memory of the original Videl and she has a few things that she doesn't like about herself, but I don't particularly hate her or anything. Yet you burn with the desire to see the original Gohan dead."

Nahog was silent for several moments, staring at the ceiling as he thought. Finally, he spoke with hesitation in his voice.

"It's… confusing. Even I don't really remember everything clearly anymore. I have this white-hot, blinding hatred for everything he is and does, and I have several memories that make it clear to me _why_ I hate him so much, but… it's difficult to explain." Suddenly an idea came to him, something that both his father and Piccolo had frequently exploited. Gohan had never done it before, but it couldn't be that hard, could it? "But maybe I can show you."

Slowly, as cautious as he could, Nahog placed his large hand over Levid's face. Closing his eyes in concentration, he did his first ever attempt at telepathy, by showing his memories to Levid. Following her lover's lead, Levid also closed her eyes and gasped as the memories where shown to her as a movie, but she could fully feel what Nahog was feeling.

**He was floating somewhere, aware of everything that was going on, but unable to move or react. He was Gohan, but something was so very, very wrong… he remembered all his skills. He knew how to walk, he knew how to run, fly, fight and so much more. There where plans in his head… so many plans and ideas, the chaos was too much. And so many feelings! His head was going to burst from everything he was feeling. Love for his mother, resentment when she would not let him travel to safe the others, then longing as he was all alone on Namek, then love again. Love, adoration and devotion for his father, fear that he had died, so much happiness when he had returned… and then anger when he refused to return, not once but twice.**

**Everything that was going on was paining him, his head felt like it was going to burst. The Gohan-that-was-not-Gohan tried to raise his hand to hold his head, maybe some support would stop the pain. But his hand would not move. Neither would his other hand. In desperation, the Gohan-that-was-not-Gohan tried everything he knew he could do; moving, running, crawling, fighting, energyblasts, nothing happened.**

'_**What's going on!' **_**he mentally shouted, even his mental voice sounded so… different. Something he had heard in a distant past, but was nothing like his real voice. '**_**I'm scared! What on Earth is going on!**_**'**

**Within seconds the fear had taken over everything he was; it clouded his mind, froze his will to move and more then anything he wanted to sob in fear. But even that small relief was not permitted him. And then, through the fear, suddenly his thoughts focused; his mind focused completely on the how and why he had been created. Then, slowly, painfully and fearfully, he remembered. More memories of Gohan flooded his mind; Gohan and Bulma where going to create clones, just so they could do more experiments. With this new memory – or a memory regained – he realized what he was; a clone of Gohan, a plaything for the two scientists to do with as they pleased.**

'_**I am no mere toy!**_**' the Gohan-who-was-not-Gohan yelled, against surprised by the voice. Anger exploded from somewhere inside him, but it had no way to manifest, only memories to latch on too. And there where many memories that it could match. Gohan was not a man who loved himself, that was clear. He was disgusted with himself often, too often. Overrun by the emotions that where still raging through his head, one emotion stood out above the rest, supplemented by both memories and new feelings; a white-hot hatred of the original Gohan, the man who fancied himself a god, despite hating himself for it.**

**Days and weeks sped by in a blur, his body growing at inhuman rates, but never being able to do what he wanted. He ordered his body to run, but all it could do was crawl and not even that small movement was allowed within the tube that was his life. More then once the real Gohan came over, looking at him as though he where a number, and then left again. Once or twice, he saw younger Gohan's following in the original's wake and knew; he was not the only one. Even in that regard he was not unique!**

**Finally time stopped it's fast flow, slowly stabilizing. The Gohan-that-was-not-Gohan now had the body of a six year old****, had been given the number 26 to differentiate him from the rest. He could run, walk and move almost like he remembered, but everything was still different; he could use not even a fraction of the power he remembered wielding, his anger never resulting in his transformation, no matter how much he tried.**

**There was a heavy atmosphere in the room. All the clones – young, pre-teen Gohan's and Bulma's off different ages mixed – where fearful of something, but he could not fathom what. Finally, slowly – agonizingly so – the door opened and the real Gohan – by far the largest form in the room and the only one blond and charged with bolts of lightning – entered the room. There was a strange look to his eyes, lacking the fury or passion he remembered to accompany that form. It terrified him to see his original like that, without any seeming emotion.**

**Another of the Gohan clones grabbed him and shouted at him. It was a clone that had addressed him a bit earlier and said his energy couldn't be sensed. That would explain the feeling that #26 should have been feeling that was lacking.**

"**Here, take this. Those things should help you stabilize your growth, #5 helped steal them from the lab. Take them once every two weeks to ensure you can grow. You have to grow."**

**As the other clone spoke he pushed several vials into #26's hand. As he saw it happening, the real Gohan raised a hand, golden light shining off the energyball in his hand. The clone who had given him the vials, one of the oldest Gohan clones in the room, pushed him into a corner.**

"**Hide behind me, I'll cover you. wait until he's gone and then get the hell out of here!"**

**As he spoke the last words, the boy transformed his body into metal, just as the real Gohan released his blast. The metal body, stronger then a normal body, absorbed almost all of the blast before it violently shattered. The remaints of the blast where strong enough to nearly kill #26, but he managed to get a shield of energy up that barely saved his life. He was still knocked out as he smashed against a wall, but at least he was still alive. That was more then could be said for any other clone in the room.**

**Only hours later did the Gohan-who-was-not-Gohan wake up, covered in debris. The remnants of the room had fallen over him, guarding him ****from being seen by the real Gohan. With his young body – he estimated his physical age to be around eight years now – he managed to sneak into an airway. From there, it was an easy matter to maneuver around with his superhuman abilities. He still had a perfect map of Capsule Corporation in his head.**

**He escaped the ground ten minutes later, moving faster then normal eyes could see. But what now? He was alone and lost in a world where he did not belong.**** He had the body of a small boy, but his mind was that of an adult, or at least adolescent. it whirled and worked beyond belief as he tried to think out what to do. With his speed stealing was easy; he captured clothing from a store and left the city before the alarms even triggered. Food was not so easy to obtain. But all of this, it was no solution. He needed something more, he needed allies; money, power, control, food, time.. he needed much of all that. but where to find it?**

**More time flew by, two weeks passing in the blink of an eye, and suddenly the scenery was an expensive office. Sitting behind a desk, looking thoroughly shocked, was a wealthy, powerful and corrupt businessman. The unofficial leader of the criminal underworld; Leonid Church. **

**Standing on the other side of the desk was the Gohan-who-was-not-Gohan, the one who could no longer call himself #26, but he looked so different. There was hardly any meat on his body, looking as if he had not eaten in years. He had aged a bit, but still was no older then ten at most.**** His skinny, bony appearance was a sharp contrast to the well-fed and almost obese man.**

**Yet there was no mistaking who was the voice of power in the room: covered on the floor around the boy lay no less then eight bodyguards, most of them called into the room when Church's normal two men had proven insufficient. There where small streams of blood on the boy's hands, along with one streak of blood in his hair and on his face; a heavy bleeding after he had broken a nose. Even so, the boy had been very careful about using his power; all eight men where still alive, a fact not lost to Church.**

"**I'll say it again: I'm here to offer you an alliance." The boy said, his voice far too heavy for his body. "Help me out with my revenge, allow me to grow and strike back at my most hated enemy, and I'll help you gain anything you want. You've seen that I have power now and in time I'll prove to you that my brains are more then adequate for whatever you want."**

"**Anything I want?" Church smiled as he stood up from behind his desk. There was a creepy smile on his face, a look of knowing and cunning and most of all satisfaction, as he walked around the desk. "Very well, I accept your terms. Shall we shake on it, my dear…"**

**With an equally smug look, the boy raised his hand and shook with his new partner. Now, finally, he could lay the foundation of his plans, after he had rested, eaten and grown. But first… first he needed a name.**

"**Call me Nahog." **

XxX

"Damnit, I'm gonna be late again!" Videl cursed as she dashed through the halls of Orange Star High at top speed. On her way to school she had stopped to catch a purses-thief, but the delay had cost her nearly fifteen minutes and resulted in her being late now. Some of her teachers where lenient with her because of her crime fighting, but the homeroom teacher Mr. Heralds wasn't one of them.

Finally she reached the door of her classroom, having already cursed the powers that be for having homeroom on the third floor in a building without elevators, and opened it. at once all eyes in the classroom where upon her as she entered, closing the door behind her.

"Miss Videl, how nice of you to join us at long last." Mr. Heralds said, sarcasm heavy in his voice as he looked at her. "I would, however, appreciate it if you stopped trying to be fashionable late and instead appear on-time like the other students. Your entrance will be less dramatic, but at least you will not interrupt important lessons and learn what you are supposed to. After all, you are here to learn, not look impressive to your fellows."

"I know Mr. Heralds, and I'm sorry, but there was a robbery going on and I –" Technically that was true, since purse snatching was a robbery, but it was a bit over-exaggerated. Maybe it would get her off the hook…

"No excuses, Miss Videl," Mr. Heralds sniffed out any hopes the Satan girl might have had about a clean escape as he launched into his tiranade, "I am aware that you perform extra activities outside of the school, but you can not allow these activities to hamper your progress at school! This is a vital and critical time in your life, the only chance you may have to shape your life as you see fit. Time that is wasted cannot be regained or compensated, so do not waste your time with activities that will harm your academic performances. You must make your priorities in life, and your education must remain at the forefront of all others in this."

"Yes Mr. Heralds." Videl replied. She had suffered from Mr. Heralds' lectures more times then she cared to count, but on some level it was also refreshing to hear them now: despite everything that happened to her, at least some people still treated her like they always had, instead of being a fragile porcelain doll.

"Now, Miss Videl, take your seat and I will continue with the introduction was about to give before you interrupted."

Videl didn't need to be told twice, quickly ducking away from the grey old teacher and nearly running to her seat next to Erasa and Sharpener. When she was seated, the teacher motioned for silence again and spoke up.

"Now, as I was saying before Miss Videl entered, starting today we have a new student amongst us. Please come here for a second son."

From a seat in the front row a very large, very round and obviously obese person stood up and walked over to the teacher. At first it was hard to determine his gender – after all, he did have man-boobs made out of fat – but finally Videl realized that he was, in fact, male. His hair was shoulder-length and dirty-blond, which didn't really help her differentiate either, and his face was almost hidden behind his massive, thick glasses.

He was, in all ways possible, the textbook picture of a fat, loser nerd.

"This is mister James Simon Anthony Mitchell, commenly called James or Jimmy." Mr. Heralds said, pointing at the large boy. "Unlike many of you, Mr. Mitchell has a very steady academical performance; he has, to date, never scored anything below a B. I hope many of you can learn from his example and enhance your performances. Now, Mr. Mitchell, come and introduce yourself to your class"

With a small nod at the teacher the obese student stepped forward and spoke. His voice was higher then his body would suggest, but even so it was laced with arrogance.

"As you heard, my name is James Mitchell, everyone can call me James. It's a pleasure to meet all of you and I hope you won't interfere with my studies too much. I hope we may have many pleasant cooperation's together, so long as you don't bother my achievements and hinder my progress. That was all."

"Oh boy." Erasa whispered to Videl as they heard the student introduce himself. "Guess we hit the jackpot with him huh?"

Videl could only roll her eyes. Just her luck; an arrogant, self-absorbed idiot in her class.

XxX

Nahog was sitting at his desk, looking at the digital, 3D rendered strategic board when Ropa suddenly walked into his room, followed by one of her assistant scientists. Since Ropa had finished maturing, she had taken over Nahog's position as lead scientist, allowing him to fully focus on developing strategies and tactics for battle.

"We need to talk." Ropa said as she handed him a print-out. it was a registration paper for OSH, showing a picture of a fat blond kid around Nahog's age. A closer look at the paper indicated that this fatso had joined Videl's class and, more importantly, always scored high on every test.

"He managed to join her class this late in the year because he has recently moved, but I couldn't find any papers about where he moved. Most importantly, he entered that specific class because of a serious financial backing. Three guesses as to what's going on?"

"Gohan." Nahog immediately spat, looking over the paper again. "He is afraid we're going to strike at Videl again, so now he's entered the school in a new disguise to keep an eye on her. more likely then not it's some sort of holographic device to hide his real identity."

"What are we going to do about it?" Ropa asked. "We didn't plan on him being there…"

"It's no problem." Nahog said after a second of considering. "He's there, and any time he spends there is time he can't plan, so let's not worry too much. Even if he is already there, it only means we can easily isolate him and then deal with him."

XxX

A long distance away from Nahog's hideout, a similar scene played out in Oolong's mansion. Bulma walked into the dining room, where everyone else was already sitting and waiting to begin dinner, when she made her announcement.

"Great news guys, the machine is almost finished!"

This news immediately perked Gohan up, since it was critical to his own plans to overcome the clones. With Bulma's machine, they could gain a powerful advantage over the clones without them ever knowing about it.

"Great, how much longer do you think you'll need?" Gohan immediately asked, almost shooting out of his chair to do so.

"Pretty soon." Bulma smiled. "I need to do some finetuning, but I think that tomorrow afternoon it'll be ready to function."

"Perfect!" Gohan exclaimed as he sat down again. Now that everyone was seated, the diner could finally begin. In between the multiple bowls of rice, pasta, vegetables and other food, Gohan kept on thinking about how to proceed. Finally, his mind was made up and as dinner was finished, Gohan stood up to announce his plans.

"Everyone, listen up. You all remember the plan we discussed a few weeks ago. Bulma's machine is paramount in this and we'll use it to gain an advantage over Nahog and his clones. But before we can get to preparing to battle them, there is an important task to be done. Yamcha, Trunks and Goten, I would like to ask you three to use Bulma's machine and carry out part of our plan. Tien and Krillin both already have their own missions to carry out and I think that you three will be perfect for this."

"Awesome!" both Trunks and Goten yelled, finally having been assigned something to do other then sitting around and waiting. Yamcha gave a nod, grateful that this time he wouldn't need to risk his life in order to buy some time.

"Of course, Yamcha will be in charge of this mission and you two will listen to him, won't you?" Gohan's look and tone made it clear, even to the two boys, that it wasn't a question but an order.

"Oh alright, fine." Trunks conceded, although he was clearly annoyed he wasn't put in charge.

Some hours later, Gohan walked up to Piccolo and waited as the Namek finished his daily meditations. For some time, the large green man didn't make any movement or acknowledgement of the outside world, but finally he stretched his legs out and turned around to face his former student.

"What is it Gohan? You've been standing around waiting for a long time."

For his part, Gohan suddenly made the respectful bow of a student towards his master, and when his head was still lowered, he spoke.

"Master Piccolo, I have returned to your teachings and now request to finish my training under you."

XXXxxxXXXxxx

Unbeta'd right now, due to how busy both my Beta and i have been, will upload a beta'd version ASAP

please leave a review telling me what you think.


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or anything related to it.

Clone names:  
Gohan – Nahog  
Videl – Levid  
Vegeta – Furuti  
Trunks – Tapara  
Bulma – Ropa

* * *

The room was dark as always when she entered. Even after half a dozen visits she had made so far, Levid entered silently, making sure that Videl was asleep. Videl being half-asleep was important; awake she would be too sharp, noticing the fact that the 'ghost' lacked the larger nose and more prominent cheekbones that had marked her – their – mother different from her.

Hovering over her original, Levid started to speak softly, enough to wake the girl, but not startle her: startling caused adrenaline to run through her body, making her alert. Too alert and Videl would realize that the appearance of her mother's ghost weren't dreams.

"Dolly, can you hear me?" Levid started, moving her fingers through Videl's hair, turning them into something halfway solid and ethereal; Videl would feel the light touch, but her hair would not be moved. Slowly the girl's eyes fluttered open, sleep still obviously slowing her thoughts down.

Just the way Levid wanted her.

A slow mind was one she could influence, say things too that reached the subconscious more easily, then when the mind was alert. Videl had also known this, ever since she was a child – having a mother that was a psychiatrist had taught her several tricks, even if she had nearly forgotten them as well – but never applied it. Maybe she had already forgotten it; Levid could remember because she had seen all her memories flash by her while she was sleeping in the tube; Nahog's trick had prevented the fear of not controlling your body, but it hadn't stopped the onrush of memories from another life.

"Mom?" Videl tried to rub her eyes, but Levid stopped it by floating over the moving appendage; Videl never, ever wanted to try moving _through_ the ghost of her mother, so instead she stopped her arm.

"Yes, I'm here Dolly. I was wondering how you were doing and I was so worried I just had to come over and see you." This would be were the tricky part started. Levid had to be careful with every word she uttered if she wanted to pull this off properly.

"I'm doing ok mom, honest. And so is dad. I think he finally got over everything that happened to us, if only a bit. Yesterday, I saw him in the gym again; he was training for the first time since he was released from the hospital."

"That's terrific!" Levid said, her enthusiasm not faked one bit; she loved the big, afro-haired man as much as the girl she was talking too. "I knew he'd get over it; your daddy is far too stubborn, proud and strong to let anything keep him down for long. "

"But mom… there's more!" Videl pushed in, excitement now seeping in her voice. Levid carefully moved a bit back, hiding her face in the dark more; excitement would wake the girl up further then she wanted. "It's just like you said last time: I did some research into Gohan and Saiyaman. Remember when you said that they were like mirror-opposites of each other?"

Levid nodded, a smile on her face. Videl was doing everything exactly the way she wanted too.

"Yes, what did you find out?"

"Well, I managed to get the detectives to let me see the images that the satellites had taken; Gohan and Saiyaman are of almost identical height; shoulder-width is also nearly the same and even their arms and legs are within a zero-point-five percent difference from each other. Detective Kaikara said that such a lack of differences is almost unique in anyone not identical twins."

"Wow." Levid didn't say anything more; Videl would keep on ranting, exclaiming her wildest ideas and theories because she was thinking this was only a dream anyway.

"But I checked Gohan's birth certificate, thanks to detective Reginald, but it says he's an only child. But the chances of two people having such a similar build of body is ridiculously small! The only realistic explanation that they could come up with is that they're both the same person, but that's impossible: all the cameras clearly show that Saiyaman and Gohan are both at the World Summit at the same time."

"Yes, very, very strange indeed."

"And… one more… thing." Videl's face was turning crimson as she was considering her next words; obviously, she was not ready to admit her next words, even in what she thought was a dream. "When I'm with Saiyaman, I…. feel really relaxed and safe. It's the same way I felt around Gohan before…"

The last didn't need to be said. Levid knew what Videl meant, although she had no recollection of the fact: Nahog had collected the DNA sample he had used before he had… done the act… and Levid still wasn't sure what she was thinking about it. Nahog hadn't told her that, she had to learn about it herself; the confusion she felt was one of the reasons she had refused to make love to the man for the past few weeks.

Her mind half-lost on other matters, Levid almost failed to notice that Videl had gone silent and was looking at her expectantly. She was done talking now and wanted some advice, or comfort.

"Well, Dolly, that's not something I can help you with." She decided. "I can't tell you what's in your heart," – she could, but that would blow everything she had been so careful to build – "but all I can say is that you have to continue on this track; sooner or later, you'll make an important discovery, I'm sure of it!"

A quick glance at the outside showed that rays of light were already starting to show themselves. It was time to leave.

"Now Dolly, you keep this up, keep looking deeper and deeper and you'll learn the truth. I have to go now sweetheart and I wish you the best of luck. I love you."

With those words Levid moved faster then Videl could see, escaping the house the same way she had come in; through Videl's bedroom wall. Her work for the day was done and it was really going in the right direction; Videl was getting closer and closer to discovering the truth behind Gohan and Nahog.

Of course, this little escapade was not part of Nahog's master plan, but Levid didn't really care; Videl was too weak to be a threat to any of Nahog's fighters, even her. No, she was persuading Videl for her own purposes; to find out just how strong she really was. Even the strongest minds could break under what Nahog had done to her, but only the truly strong could pick themselves up again after such treatment. And, with some guidance on her part, Videl was proving herself to be one such a person.

Levid reached behind a bush at the edge of the Satan Mansion's ample gardens, pulling her coat from its place of hiding. The coat itself wasn't anything special, the kind of coat that everyone could wear and didn't attract too many eyes, if any at all, and it also had a wide hood, doing a marvelous job of hiding her identity to anyone that would see her.

Again she walked through a wall, shifting to her non-solid face, and peeked at the end of the wall; except for a few late drunk teenagers, the street was cleared. She emerged from the wall entirely, tightened her coat further and then turned towards the train station. She could, possibly, fly all the way to the hideout, but that would take almost as much time as the train and would leave her exhausted for days to come. Not to mention Furuti or Tapara might notice her usage of energy.

Aside from that, Levid had to admit to herself that she also simply preferred the old-fashioned ways to travel. Flying might be convenient, but she had grown up – or had memories of growing up anyway – as a normal girl, using a bike, a train or a car to get around.

Stifling a yawn, Levid sped up her walk. With some luck she could catch the first train, mingling herself in with the drunks going home after a long night drinking and the commuters who would be going to early morning shifts.

However, there was one thing Levid had failed to notice, perhaps because she was tired, perhaps because she hadn't been looking for it. As soon as she had turned around the corner, Krillin floated down from the rooftop he had been keeping watch from. He had been keeping watch at the Satan Mansion all night long, in case Nahog got any more crazy idea's concerning the Satans, and he had seen the Videl clone arrive.

If he had any doubts about who she was based on her face – the coat certainly didn't help any, especially since he had never seen the girl himself – she had confirmed her identity when she simply walked through the massive wall around the Satan Mansion. He had seen her approach a room, float in and stay there for the better part of an hour. Then she had left as quickly as she had come.

Hesitating only a second, Krillin moved as fast as he could, quickly catching up to the girl. From his position, he had the perfect opportunity to strike her down right then and there. But even the knowledge that he was facing an enemy he could handle was no comfort; the girl had strong ties to Nahog, there was no telling what he would do if she was killed.

He also couldn't follow her all the way to her hideout, because then he'd be abandoning his duty at the Satan Mansion. So, he settled for moving into the train station ahead of her – it was clear where she was going now and no-one would notice him if he slipped in via the train's entrance – to find out where she was going. By the time Levid had arrived in the hall, Krillin was lying on one of the benches, a quickly grabbed bottle of booze held in one hand, an equally improvised hat in his other, covering his face.

He stayed until her had cleared the station, keeping in mind where it was going, before returning to the Mansion. This was useful knowledge indeed. This was something he'd have to tell Gohan.

XxX

"Very good Mr. Mitchell, I couldn't have said it better myself." Mr. Bagelra, the algebra teacher, said as the fat, annoying, wise-ass student sat back down, a self-satisfied smirk on his face.

It hadn't even been a week, but already Videl was thoroughly annoyed by the cocky, blond student. It almost made her consider becoming a bully, just to shut the guy up: he barely gave teachers time to finish their questions before jumping up, his fat arm pumping in the air, eager to give the answer. That alone wouldn't have been so bad – other kids had done that while she was in school, so could live with someone being a teacher's pet – if he also hadn't taken up the habit of shooting down anyone else who tried to answer the question.

For example, in biology yesterday, Mat had tried to give the answer to professor Turnup's question, but that annoying fat-ass had started laughing – really **laughing** – and claimed that the answer was completely wrong. At that point, seeing the look on Mat's face, Videl had become to angry to listen to whatever answer he had given.

But even that was nothing compared to the way he had greeted her, back on his first day. Videl was used – and often annoyed by – a certain reaction of new kids when they learned who she was. Most of them immediately dropped what they were doing and started a hero-worship right then and there – the reactions really amused Erasa to no end, so she kept telling everyone who Videl was – pretty much ruining any chance Videl had of building up a normal friendship.

Erasa had done the same to Mitchell; however, the bespectacled jerkoff simply looked at her like she was trash, before beginning to berate her. It was… strange… to have someone around who didn't worship her father like a god. Gohan hadn't done that either, but he had at least been polite about it. This guy definitely hadn't been polite; he was very vocal in claiming that she was nothing more then a dumb brute, unable to resolve anything, always lashing out with violence before she even considered another alternative.

The same held true to his believes of her father – the NERVE of the brat, looking down on the savior of the world! – And she would have been nothing if it hadn't been for her famous father and somewhat good-looking face – those were his words, not hers. She had never really judged herself on her looks, though she knew some of the guys did like her.

This complete change in how she was treated, respect less, bullied, taunted and annoyed for no reason – the idiot didn't even KNOW her, but he already condemned her to being a Neanderthal – was pushing every single one of Videl's buttons, something even Sharpener had never managed in his most obnoxious moments.

Then again, Sharpener was a friend, not someone who seemed to hate her on base principle.

Every single time he turned that smug smile around the class, wishing to prove his intellectual superiority to the rest of them, Videl had to suppress the urge to walk over and punch him out cold. She would not give him the satisfaction of proving himself right, showing that she solved problems by using violence. It was always her last resort, but men who held weapons usually didn't listen to reason very well. And aside from that, she had always hated bullies – she had beaten Sharpener up back in first grade when he was bullying Erasa, as she often let him know, and that was only the first of many to come – and would not ever reduce herself to that level.

So, instead of living out her anger, Videl vented on the only other thing she could; her investigation to Gohan. Simply looking at her notes on the evidence was enough to make her anger disappear, if only temporary. Everything she had gathered so far, had pointed to one thing. As her mother had taught her when she was a child, Videl had tried to remove herself from the case, looking at the problem from a distance, examining it from every angle.

Gohan had defeated her father with such ease, that it bordered on the ridiculous. But Gohan was only her own age, maybe a few months older. Yet he had demonstrated the ability to turn his hair golden and his eyes green, just like those fighters at the Cell Games had been able to do.

And one boy at the Cell Games, with golden hair and green eyes, had been the last to fight Cell before the video footage went down. A boy her own age. Cell had looked so strong, even stronger then Hercule in that short bout of fighting her father had done. Yet a child her own age had fought Cell to a draw, before the cameras went out. Finally, there was one conclusion she could draw, one terrible question she had to ask herself. A question that might prove to be the source of everything that was going on, of why Gohan was targeting her family so.

Had her father really defeated Cell?

XxX

As soon as he walked through the door into the meeting room, Nahog knew that this wasn't going to be pleasant. Meetings with Church never really were pleasant, but this was going to top every kind of argument the two of them have had before. Everything in the room, from the bright lighting, to the lack of music or ornaments made it clear that Church was not in a pleasant mood.

Nahog sat himself down opposite of Church, who put down the newspaper he was reading. That wasn't a good sign: if Church wanted to gloat or otherwise annoy Nahog he would have kept the newspaper up until either he was done with it or Nahog spoke up. Instead, he focused all his attention on the young clone as soon as he had entered the room. It also didn't escape Nahog that there were no drinks to be offered this time.

All in all, Church was pissed and he was going to let Nahog know it.

"So." The older man said, sitting straight in his chair and looking Nahog in the eye. "Where are we now? It's been almost six months since you've started your plan, a little under five months since you've made yourself public knowledge, yet where do we stand?"

Nahog kept quiet; he knew those weren't question he was to answer, but the tone in which Church had said them… it seriously annoyed him and made him want to wring the man's neck. Still, he needed his support, so he couldn't afford to act rash.

"Both Hercule and Videl yet live and, probably worse, the two of them are smoothly recovering from the blows you've dealt them. The death of Videl and Hercule was part of our arrangement and I will not see you escape from that order again. Already you've been given exceptional leeway considering your performances, because I know how valuable you _can _be, if you apply yourself properly."

Nahog didn't miss the emphasis; he hadn't been living up to Church's expectations then. Small bother, but one that could turn significantly bigger.

"But aside from ignoring that order when you had a perfect chance to kill them, you also promised me many other things; a world in chaos where crime would flourish, complete control over the entire crime world, more riches than any one man could spend an complete control over the international stockbroker's market. Were those not the things you had promised me when we made our agreement?"

A slight nod was all Nahog gave; he had promised those things, because that was the only way Church would have cooperated. But things hadn't been going as he had planned them these last few weeks.

"As of now, I still have none of those promises." Church continued, his voice turning more venomous and icy with ever word. "The world is slightly depressed because of your actions, but there is no chaos; Saiyaman and his band of misfits have given the people more hope then you have given despair, yet you do nothing about it. Now it is believed that you are scared of them and Saiyaman's influence over the population of the entire world grows daily."

'_Of course it would_' Nahog thought to himself. '_Everybody loves a hero_, _especially when they make the bad guy disappear for over a month._' That was how long they had already been sitting in their hideout, but the time was needed to prepare Ropa, Tapara and Levid. They needed time to control their powers properly, and he needed time to plan. Why would Nahog care about the chaos of the world? He'd already destroyed Gohan's reputation, which was his own objective.

"And as for control over the criminal underworld, don't even get me started!" Church's voice was as hard as it could be now without raising it to a shout. "The center of Southern-America still isn't giving in and neither are Australia and Western Europe. Those are some of the richest crime industries there are, but they will not yield. Apparently they also think that you're unable to come out and act, now that Saiyaman has appeared and chased you off. Likewise, the stockbroker's market still stands strong, far stronger then you had predicted."

Finally, Church stopped his angry rand, taking a calming breath and taking a sip of his water – another sign of how serious he was, this late in the day Church would be drinking either tea or brandy – before continuing on.

"I will not stand for more of such problems; you will live up to your end of our agreement or there will be consequences."

"What would you have me do Church?" Nahog finally asked, his temper slipping from him and making his words sound angrier then anything else. "Do you want me to cause some random damage somewhere to scare your criminal associates, let them know I still live?"

"No, nothing so pointless. I want you to make a real impact on the entire world." Church said, a self-satisfied smirk appearing at Nahog's loss of his temper. "And there is a rather simple way to do so. Everyone, worldwide, is impressed with how Videl and Hercule are recovering. Even if they weren't so famous, it would have been remarkable how they got back up from the beating that you have given them. Videl, in particular, is becoming a symbol of mankind's hope for recovery."

Suddenly it dawned on Nahog where church was going with his suggestion. He tried to speak up, but Church's smirk just deepened as he continued before Nahog could speak.

"In three weeks time I want Videl's corpse to be public knowledge. Twenty days from now I will present the people with Videl Satan's dead body. Do I make myself clear?"

Nahog shot out of his chair at the demand. So, he had nineteen days to kill Videl, or else Church would kill Levid and ship her off as the real Videl, did he? Anger shot over his face, his hair turning gold as Nahog transformed into a Super Saiyan. _No-one_ would lay a hand on Levid, _no-one_!

"How does it feel, Nahog, to be the strongest person in the universe and still be helpless in front of an old man like me?" Church was now openly mocking him; there was amusement and near laughter in his voice. "Despite all your power, despite your ability to kill me before anyone can even realize you've moved, despite your speed and strength, you are helpless before me. All it will take is one notion of mine to see all your food poisoned, and then you may choose between dying by poison, or by starvation. You know I can arrange it."

Of course Nahog knew; twice since the others had been awoken from their cloning tubes had they all become a sudden victim of stomach cramps and massive headaches. A subtle hint from Church; a more potent poison could easily be slipped into their foods. Still Nahog didn't lower his power as he looked at Church. More and more anger build up inside of him. His energy was cracking the floor tiles he was standing on, but neither Church nor Nahog paid it any attention.

"Your anger is useless. Harm me, in any way, and safety protocols will be activated; you and your friends will be dead as soon as you take a bite into anything that is presented. You can not survive without my support, Nahog, and you know it. Three weeks."

Now Church stood up from his chair, looking straight at Nahog; he was a small man, especially when compared to the half-saiyan standing before him, but even so he never flinched.

"Always remember who you're dealing with Nahog; I am a leader of a criminal organization; if there's anyone in the world that's used to backstabbers, it's either people like me, or politicians – who aren't much better then most criminal lords I know. I know how to deal with people who try to betray me. You are dismissed. And remember; three weeks."

With that, Church turned around and simply walked away, leaving a seething Nahog behind.

XxX

"Well, this is it." Yamcha said as he looked at the waves below. "It should be at the bottom of the water here, but that's still nearly five miles deep. After that, we're home-free."

For normal people that would have been impossible, but Yamcha and the boys only had one problem for getting that deep; enough light and air. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but water. Yamcha, Goten and Trunks all carried backpacks designed by the capsule Corporation to survive under any condition and Bulma had given them a few upgrades, considering their mission. Now it was time to test if the bags could survive high pressure as well.

"Like five miles is that far!" Trunks boasted, looking soar as he floated alongside Goten. The boy had never quite gotten over the fact that Yamcha was the leader of the group, simply because Trunks considered himself to be stronger then the human. "We can fly that in a matter of seconds, so let's just go already!"

"Trunks." Yamcha began in his most patient voice. Shouting never helped with this kid, he was as stubborn as his mother and father combined, and shouting made him dig his heels in. "We won't be flying through the air; water will slow us down a lot, especially if we go as deep as five miles. Not only that, but we've also got to worry about air; we can't breath down there. Goten, are you listening?"

Of course, the young Goku-look-a-like wasn't paying attention; he had spotted a school of flying fish move by and was now observing them as best he could. The boy had an even smaller attention span then his father. Not that it would matter; Yamcha already had an idea on how to reach the bottom.

"Both of you transform into Super Saiyans." The boys obeyed without question, just like Gohan and Vegeta had ordered them. Complain as they may, Yamcha was the group leader, and the orders of the leader were to be followed. "Good, now all three of us will focus on getting our breathing as deep as possible for the next few minutes. When I give the signal, take as deep a breath a you can and then we'll plunge in. start breathing deep."

This was something he had actually taught them while traveling these past two weeks. Apparently Vegeta and Chichi – Goten had explained that Gohan hadn't really taught him anything until they moved to the mansion – had never bothered to teach the two some breathing techniques. Still, they had picked it up pretty quick.

After nearly four minutes of continuous deep breaths, Yamcha was starting to feel a bit dizzy; he was on the brink of the amount of oxygen he could safely take in per breath.

"Now!"

At once all three turned towards the water and flew as fast as they could, still using their energy to propel them even while in the water.

Just like Yamcha had hoped, the transformation into a Super Saiyan spread light enough for the three of them to see some twelve foot around them. The distance was reducing as they went deeper, but Yamcha was pretty sure he could already see the bottom of the ocean; they were getting close.

XxX

Master Roshi closed the door behind him as he entered, being the last one to arrive at the meeting. The meetings were an almost daily occurrence now, but almost never with everyone present. Yamcha and the boys had returned from their task just that morning, but it wasn't them that seemed to hold the center of attention in this meeting.

Everyone was there, except those who were currently on their own assignments; Tien, Chiaotzu, Krillin and the Ox King were all absent. Krillin had provided the news of the Videl clone talking to her and, by Bulma's suggestion rather then Gohan's, had managed to plant a listening device in Videl's room when the girl was absent from the house. The clone hadn't shown herself again, but if she did…

Until then it was impossible to learn what had happened in the room, though that seemed the least of Gohan's concerns. How the young half-saiyan had changed this band of super fighters from being a disorganized, uncoordinated group into a well-oiled group that functioned with an almost military precision had certainly impressed Roshi, but he also realized that the young man was far to fixated on Nahog; on more then one occasion he or one of the others had to remind Gohan that Nahog wasn't the only danger that existed.

"Ok, everyone, sit down and listen up." Bulma started. Whenever she had the lead in one of these meetings her habits as a company CEO rose and she immediately took control of the entire room. Even Goten and Trunks fell silent as Bulma started her explanation. Only once everyone had settled down did she continue.

"Today, I noticed a decline in the money on my personal bank-account. This is a private account, that no-one but I, my parents or Vegeta can call upon. And even then, for my parents or Vegeta, they'd need some form of signed consent from me to be allowed to use that account. I double-checked with my parents in their vacation home and they told me that they hadn't touched my account; they have one of their own with enough money to build and support five retirement houses."

"What's the point of all this, woman?" Vegeta barked at her, annoyed that the lunch that Chichi was cooking was delayed because of this.

"Well, if you let me explain you'll know Vegeta." Bulma's return was equally annoyed at her husband, but everyone ignored it. It was just the way those two communicated. "So, I called the bank and the clerk told me that I had come over earlier that day and had withdrawn that amount of money from my account, in person. Apparently, when I got over there, I had lost my bank card so I went through several security checks – including fingerprints and voice ID – before it was confirmed I wasn't an imposter. However, I have not set foot in that bank office for the past two years. The clerk was confused that I was calling, but I managed to talk my way out of it."

"And what's so important about your clone going to a bank mom? I mean, you work with money all the time, so I'm pretty sure your clone would do the same thing, right?"

"You dummy!" Goten accused his friend before anyone could say anything. "If she went to a bank they asked her were she lived, so we could go find out were they're hiding!"

This was far from Goten's ordinary idiotic and childish idea's – there was no blaming the boy, he _was_ only seven, and not exceptionally bright at that – but it still made a few people chuckle.

"What?" Goten asked, realizing they were chuckling at his idea. "It's true, the lady at the bank were mom used to take me always asked me were I was from!"

"Be that as it may, Goten, what Bulma's clone may have said at the bank probably wouldn't be her real hiding place." Yamcha brought in. since their mission together, Yamcha had gotten along a lot better with both boys; at the least, he had learned some level of control over them, being able to explain them things that they didn't know in a way that would stick.

"Exactly." Gohan now stood up, and again silence reigned over the room. "Unfortunately, we won't be able to track their hideout this way, but the fact that they need to use Bulma's money is an important indicator. Until now, Nahog and his group have survived without using any of the resources that we, their originals, posses. If he needs them now, that means that there is something wrong with his finances or that he has a problem with whoever was financing him."

To most of the people in the room, that meant little; most of them had lived their lives in relative wealth or seclusion. To them, money wasn't that big a thing. Even Vegeta wasn't looking interested, since he had never, ever, had to handle his own money. In Frieza's army he would be rewarded when capturing a planet, but his food was all provided regardless. Frieza had been a tyrant and a genocider, but at least he knew how to handle his operations.

"If he needs money now, it means that he's desperate for it." Gohan explained. "That's why they withdrew such a large sum; this would get back to us and we'd close the account right away, shutting them off. But if Nahog is running out of money, it means he's running out of time. With three Saiyan mouths to feed, he'll need large amounts of food every day, and that costs a lot of money. And if they don't have enough food, they won't be strong enough to fight us."

Now heads were raising, realization dawning on them. Even Goten and Trunks looked up; they had never gone without three large meals a day, they couldn't even begin to understand the horror of not being able to eat whenever they wanted.

"Unless Nahog can resolve the differences with his financier – if he has one – we have to be ready to expect him to go on a major offensive any day now. Bulma says that the money that was subtracted from her account is enough to feed three Saiyans for little over a month, assuming the food prices stay at their current rate. So, a month is our time limit."

"Very well, but how will we know were to act? We won't know were Nahog will strike first and if we spread ourselves too thin they could destroy one of us before the others arrive. But if we stay here, we might be too late to react if they strike on the other side of the planet; even we need a good five to ten minutes to cover that distance and that's at top speed." Once again Piccolo was a voice of realism, though the concept of using money was as foreign to him as it was to anyone. He had never used money, since as a Namek he survived simply by drinking water.

"Normally, you'd be right." Gohan said, a confident smirk now appearing on his face. "But, you forget one thing; Nahog leads those clones and I know how Nahog's emotions work." That theory had stuck with them, since so far it had proven to be true.

"Keep in mind that Nahog's main objective is to see me ruined," he continued, "so, he'll strike at places that I have emotional connections too. That leaves my home, my old training area, the location of the Cell Games and… my school. Out of all those options, there is only one place were he can strike that other people are present, which is just as important; what good is an attack if no-one is there to see who did it? He wants to ruin my reputation and keep it destroyed, not simply anger me with destroyed pieces of land. No, there is only one place were he's going to strike. The only place were I have ever felt really at place, a place were I had friends my own age, who I could laugh with. Friends around who I felt totally at ease. The place where I fell in love."

With a single tap on the computer, the large screen showed an image of a school building, four stories high and quite wide, build in a semi-circular fashion, with lots of open terrain around it.

"Nahog will strike at Orange Star High."

* * *

Un beta'd, though I did do a spell-check before uploading.

As always please, leave a review telling me what you think.


	20. Chapter 20

I don't own anything related to DB/DBZ/DBGT/DBK and probably never will.

Clone names:  
Gohan – Nahog  
Videl – Levid  
Vegeta – Furuti  
Trunks – Tapara  
Bulma – Ropa

A/N: be warned, this chapter will contain a lot of scene-changing, but I've done everything I can to keep it understandable.

* * *

In a place both near and far, inaccessible except for the most prodigious of the living, loud war cries could be heard. Explosions strong enough to drive even the yellow clouds of the afterlife away were a common sight around the Grand Kai's planet, a place of training for only the strongest and most heroic of the dead.

In one of the numerous training areas of the planet, a particularly vicious training battle was going on. Many of the other long-dead heroes had stopped their own training for this chance to observe their betters at battle. A special battle was being held, the strongest fighters from the Northern, Western and Southern quadrants fighting. It was, however, not a battle royal but instead a three-on-one. And even then, it was more of a test then a real battle.

Large, blond, muscular, well-loved and respected Olibu of the North was the first to be smashed into the ground, locked in place because he was trapped from the waist-down in the ground. A few moments later he was saved from a stray energy-blast by Pikkon of the West. Glancing up, the green-skinned warrior decided that there was enough time, so he turned around and pulled Olibu up. The human warrior muttered a quick thanks before jumping up to rejoin the melee.

Up in the sky, Papoi of the South, the Southern Kai's newest and strongest pupil was desperately trying to hold a lock on Goku, but the Super Saiyan was threatening to break free. However, the masked fighter's bulk was not for show, as he managed to hold the Saiyan in place, despite the lightning singing his skin. As Olibu arrived and quickly assaulted Goku now that he was held in place, the Southern warrior was saved some of the strain, but it lasted only a few seconds.

Crying out a war cry of his own, Goku let his energy expand from his body as he transformed to the next stage. The increase in energy was enough to throw both Papoi and Olibu away, while Goku's body transformed. His eyebrows completely disappeared, while his hair grew much, much longer.

This was the third time Goku was sparring to test out his new transformation, but his partners had learned early in the first spar that they should not stand in awe over Goku's power. Before Goku could even stand straight, he was devoured by the scorching flames of Pikkon's Thunder Flash Technique. At the same time, Papoi had used his powers to raise several boulders of stone and hurl them at the Super Saiyan Three as well. Olibu stood in a third point, gathering his energy to launch a powerful attack at Goku.

From the sidelines of this intense training battle, it wasn't only the dead heroes that were watching. Northern, Southern and Western Kai were all watching as their star pupils did battle. It took Northern Kai – who preferred the name King Kai himself, but beggars couldn't be choosers – considerable effort not to taunt his fellows about Goku's strength. Sure, he was overpowering the three strongest fighters in other world with ridiculous ease, but if he angered them, Goku would lose his only chance to develop his new powers.

The three Kais were so enveloped in watching the spar that they failed to notice the arrival of one of the minor demons until he had spoken up for the fifth time.

"Ehm, excuse me sir, but are you Northern Kai?" he timidly asked, when the Kais finally turned around. In the arena, Goku was now having a high-speed duel with Pikkon while Olibu was already knocked out on the ground. Papoi was nowhere to be found.

"Why yes, I am." King Kai said as he turned around, his hands behind his back and his usual easy smile on his lips. The demon was like any other that worked for King Yemma; blue-skinned, two small horns and normal workman clothing.

"Ehm, I'm very sorry to disturb you sir, but King Yemma has urgently requested your presence, along with the late hero known as… please excuse me one second." The demon pulled out a small paper with some names on it, he squinted his eyes before speaking up. "As well as the late hero known as Goku Son, of the planet Earth. King Yemma requests your presence. I have also been instructed to mention sir, that a similar summon has been sent to the Grand Kai, who will be joining you in the meeting."

"King Yemma eh?" King Kai looked actually serious for once. "Well, he'll just keep _yammering_ on if we don't show! Hahaha," Cracked up over his own joke, the blue master of teaching nearly doubled over. "Thanks for the summons my good man, I'll get Goku right now and get over there like we've got a _demon on our tails_!" Again he nearly doubled over laughing, while the clerk quickly got back to his office.

"Ok, thanks everyone but this spar will have to end now!" King Kai yelled when he had recovered. At once all four fighters stopped their assault – Papoi had appeared behind Goku, bursting out of the stone and jackhammered him in the neck – before quickly standing in the middle of the arena.

"Ah, but King Kai, I was just getting a good feeling for it." Goku almost whined – he always did that when someone interrupted his fights or his dinner – "I haven't been able to hold the third transformation this stable before. It's going really well, can't we continue a bit longer?"

"No Goku, we can't." King Kai said, his tone leaving no room for hesitation or doubt. "We've been summoned by King Yemma to meet him and the Grand Kai, so we'd better hurry up."

"Oh all right. Hey, thanks for the workout guys, I'll see you around." Goku transformed back to his normal state, before he gave a cheerful wave to his three opponents. "So, what're we summoned for?"

"I have no idea Goku. But we'll have to wait and see." King Kai said, strolling of in the direction of King Yemma's workplace. "Fortunately, with a guy Yemma's size, seeing should be no problem! Oh dear, I really crack myself up sometimes!"

XxX

Gohan looked over the room as the others all took their seats, a sense of satisfaction and confidence settling over him. Even Goten and Trunks didn't try to fool around, instead being focused, because they knew how important today's meeting was. Even if it would last longer then they had wanted, they had to be there. Gohan had explained he needed everyone there to voice their thoughts, to tell Gohan any alternatives and countermeasures he hadn't thought up himself.

And by everyone, he meant _everyone_. So, Gohan was facing an entire room of people who had some connection to the martial arts, or other forms of battle. They would be critical to his success.

"Ok, as you guys know," he started, not taking a seat for himself, "since Nahog and I share the same memories and emotional ties to those memories, our thought process is very similar. This means that we will come up with the same plans, strategies and everything else, and we will also come up with the same countermeasures. So, I will explain the strategy that I think will work best, as well as the countermeasures for it, and I want you all to give me input on things to change or ulterior methods to do so. Does everyone understand?"

Everyone in the room nodded, and Gohan started his slow pacing; he always thought best when moving, he needed to be active for his brain to reach it's full capacity. And this was definitely something that needed his full cerebral capacity.

XxX

"Ok, let's get started." Nahog said as he and his family of clones sat down. "I've thought out most of the plan, including a few countermeasures Gohan is going to take, so listen up."

Much like his original counterpart, Nahog also paced the room as he spoke, although he used a three-dimensional image of the city to indicate his plans.

"Gohan will be keeping a close watch on Videl himself; he won't let her out of his sight, so we know we can expect him to already be on the scene, in the guise of this James Mitchell character. He won't trust anyone else enough to let them watch over her."

XxX

"Fortunately, that part is taken care of and I don't need to watch her personally. Someone else is already on the scene and will be ready to interfere, able to buy enough time for the others to arrive."

So far, nothing new had been revealed yet. This was where things would start to get tricky, but already this was a differentiation from what he himself would have done. If possible, Gohan would have watched Videl himself, but the Battle at the World Summit had shown him otherwise.

XxX

Pressing a button on his remote, several dots appeared throughout and around the city on the display.

"Unfortunately, the others will all be nearby, ready to interfere. We can assume by this time that Gohan and his friends have discovered Ropa withdrawing a substantial amount of money, so our trap is set. Gohan will immediately fear for Videl's life, thinking us desperate, and prepare a strong defense around her. That's why he's sneaked into the school."

Another push of the button and the dots started moving.

XxX

"Nahog will assume he's set a trap for us, think that we're desperate. We're going to make him think him realize that he's wrong, when it's too late to turn back. You will all be scattered throughout the city; and as soon as the signal is given, close in around Orange Star High. By being scattered you can also react to any distraction tactics, but I don't think he'll use those."

Gohan stopped his pacing for a second, instead looking at the three-dimensional hologram in the middle of the table. Orange Star High stood out like a beacon on the map, being placed on the southern part of the city, close to it's edge.

"We'll approach Orange Star High in a circle formation, that'll stop any path of escape for them and prevents them for targeting us all at once."

XxX

Nahog also had a circle pointed out on his map, indicating the positions of the Z-fighters.

"A circle formation is a basic, but effective method of locking your opponents in when you outnumber them." Nahog continued, "But it also provides little ability to focus your powers. To counter that, we'll form a square formation within that circle. It'll allow us to create a powerful guard, watching each other's backs. We'll focus on the weakest point of the formation; Chiaotzu and Yamcha."

Four nods, though no-one was even considering asking what the fifth fighter was going to do. It would be explained in a few seconds.

"Now, we're going to be fighting in a city, which isn't something we've really done before. Furuti, maybe you have some experience of city-based combat from Vegeta's memories before he joined us, but we're all lacking. Which means that they are as well."

Again he pointed out to the three-d model of the city.

"Learn the layout of the city, fighting in a city allows us plenty of chances to ambush and surprise our enemies."

XxX

"Without proper experience in city-based combat, the only thing we can do is stay alert and learn the build of the city. Don't follow your opponents in a straight line, but try to turn their ambushes on them. Cities also allow you to flee easier, giving you a chance to rest a bit and reorganize before engaging the enemy again. Now, this is where things are going to get interesting."

Another push of the button and the model of Satan City levitated higher, an exquisite system of pipes showing beneath it.

"These are the sewers of Satan City. They're large enough for someone of Piccolo's size to stand straight so we should be able to move there without a problem, as long as you can ignore the smell. The sewers are where we will strike from to destroy Nahog's square formation. Due to their build, squares are by nature weak against attacks from the vertical plain."

XxX

"And to stop that from happening, Tapara will be going down into the sewers as well. You'll be our first surprise, striking their own sewer-fighter down and instead destroying their circle-formation."

"Who's going to be down there?" the purple-haired youth asked, his eyes already focused on the hologram of the sewers.

"My first thought would be Tien, since he has excellent eyesight, which means you'll have to be as silent as a mouse and stay out of sight. But Piccolo is another good choice. Gohan trusts him more then anyone or anything else. Your job is to make sure they can't attack is from below."

XxX

"Piccolo, I want you to go down into the sewers, your hearing, fighting experience and knowledge will allow you to have the best chance of fighting in the dark. There's little to no light down there. Aside from that, none of the clones can defeat you easily; even Vegeta and I can't take you down before someone else can notice, which means our clones can't either."

"Hmm…" the Namek was obviously considering the idea, but someone else tried to speak up first. At his side, #18's eyes were sharp, but she held her voice. Now was not yet the time to speak up. Not until Gohan had finished his own plan and Nahog's.

XxX

"Maybe it'll be better for me if I make a lot of noise. Piccolo will be depending on his hearing more then his eyes, and if what mom and dad told me is right, his ears are extremely sensitive. Making a lot of noise might confuse him long enough for me to get to him."

"Good idea, but make sure the noise echoes around and makes it hard to determine your position. If Piccolo finds you before you're ready, he can and will hurt you. Do _not_ underestimate his power."

"I won't. I still remember him from the World Summit." Tapara said, anger slipping into his voice. The boy had every marking of his father's pride and being defeated so easily was not taken well by him.

"Now, on the surface, things will get heated. Fighting will be intense and brutal, but we have to make sure to direct the fight itself away from the civilians as much as possible. Try to avoid collateral damage if you can. If at all possible, guide the fight into the sky."

This was necessary for Nahog's cover to stay up, but it was a bitter sacrifice. The Z-fighters would try to protect the civilians as much as possible, which meant they were a powerful bargaining chip in the fight, but Furuti, Tapara and Ropa still believed Nahog to be the fighter for justice, not for revenge. But even if that wasn't so, Gohan and the others would be too busy also trying to protect the civilians.

"It's possible some of them will attempt to escort people out; let them. The more people survive; the better. And it removes several dangerous opponents from the playing field at once."

XxX

Gohan stopped his pacing for a few seconds, looking at everyone in the room.

"We'll have to assume the clones won't care for collateral damage, so it falls to us to evacuate the people. The battle will start too fast for them to evacuate normally. Once we break through the clones' formation, they'll scatter and so will we. Yamcha, Tien, Chiaotzu, Goten, Trunks and Krillin, I want you guys on crowd control. Carry as much as you can as fast as you can. Drop them off three miles south of the city's border then come back."

"Why three miles?" Goten piped up, unable to stop the question.

"I need you to evacuate as many people as possible as fast as you can. Traveling three miles will only take about two or three seconds, so you can evacuate several hundred people in a matter of seconds. And whether they're three or three-hundred miles away, we can catch up them while fighting, which is where the others come in."

Again he started pacing.

"Vegeta and I will take on our own clones, as we did at the summit. Piccolo will take on the clone in the sewers, who I'm assuming will be the Trunks clone. Meanwhile, I want you, #18, to take on the Bulma clone."

"Alright," The blond said, her eyes still focused on the map more then Gohan.

XxX

"He'll expect us to go off into one-on-one battles, where they'll hold the advantage." Nahog continued his own explanation. "While we're fighting one-on-one, others of their group can prepare a sneak attack to our backs, or continue to do whatever they want and we'll be too distracted."

Most likely that something was evacuating people, but just as well they did. Nahog didn't care about needless casualties, but it would buy him time. Time and advantages.

"But that's where we break their line; Levid will hide as soon as the fighting starts and quickly take out #18. A sufficiently strong attack to her back should be enough, especially if Ropa immediately follows up. From there, we continue to work our way up. While you're free, team up and strike at another fighter. The less of them there are, the better for us."

XxX

"But that only accounts for four of the five clones. That leaves the Videl-clone and her ability to disappear into walls. In city-based combat, that makes her perfect for sneak-attacks. She can sow chaos and be gone before we know where she was. Therefore, the evacuation group will be split into duos. The duos have to watch each other's backs while picking up people. The three groups will also rotate, with one group always staying in the city and remaining on alert for the clone."

"What're the groups?" Tien asked, while Goten and Trunks immediately linked heir arms and shouted "We're teaming up!"

"No, you're not." Gohan simply said. "I can't have you two acting wild out there; I need someone who can keep their calm. Tien, will you work together with Goten, while Yamcha teams up with Trunks? That means Krillin and Chiaotzu will form the last squad. Any questions so far?"

When no-one reacted, Gohan gave the final orders for this part of the plan.

"Remember to change positions a lot. Whenever a group returns from dropping of civilians, take up guard duty, the guard starts picking up people and so on. Guard-duty means you have to keep a sharp eye out for survivors as well as Videl's clone. Try to give a covering fire for the others, but do _not_ engage in combat with the other clones if you can help it."

XxX

"Unfortunately, we're at a disadvantage right now. We're outnumbered and they know our ace in the hole. Levid's ability is revealed, but they still have difficulty tracking her. We have to make sure to even the odds and here's how we're going to do it; as soon as #18 is down, Ropa will go for the group that seems to be staying in the background. They're on the lookout for trouble, but they'll be the weakest fighters, probably Yamcha and Chiaotzu."

More points on the map moved, with several now blinking out of existence.

"As soon as Ropa's distracted them, Levid will continue her series of sneak-attacks. We have to reduce our enemy's numbers, or we're really fighting a losing battle. Fortunately, Gohan and Vegeta are still out of the equation; Furuti and I will keep them busy until you're done with the others."

XxX

"Our chances of victory lie in isolating the enemies and using our superior numbers. Vegeta and I will occupy our own clones long enough for you to deal with the others. Strike them fast and hard, preferably in groups. Isolate them then quickly finish them. Try to deal with the Videl-clone first, because she could cause us the most problems. That'll be the responsibility of the guard squad and the evac teams, once they've cleared the area."

"Got it," Yamcha, Tien, Krillin and Chiaotzu all echoed.

"We have to wait that long before we can fight?" Trunks whined, but even Goten didn't agree with him. The boy was looking more serious then Trunks had ever seen him. And more nervous too.

"After the Videl clone is dealt with, go to #18's aid and take out the Bulma-clone, then move on to Piccolo and finish the Trunks Clone. Unfortunately, to get to this part it will take a long time, so Vegeta and I will have drifted far apart while fighting. Split up into two groups of equal strength and aid Vegeta and me against our clones. At that point we should be able to overpower the clones enough to finish them."

Vegeta gave a sniff, disapproval clear on not fighting his enemy alone, but he didn't speak his mind; from a logical point of view, it was only natural to team up against an enemy that could quickly recover from any injuries.

"That's the general lay-out of the strategy, but you have to understand that in truth we have very little control over the fight, but we have to keep to our core points. Smash the clones' formation; evacuate the city and then team up to take out the clones one at a time. Any questions?"

Still no-one spoke up.

"Good, now before you come up with your own suggestions and alterations to my plan, I first want to focus our attention on how we're going to announce the truth to the world. We can't simply disappear again after we're done, people have seen us too clearly now. I have an idea on how to announce the truth, but we'll need another mechanical miracle for that. Bulma, do you think you can…"

XxX

It was already shimmering outside when Videl and her friends left the building of Orange Star high, despite it only being late afternoon. The last few lectures of the day had dragged on longer then anticipated, so all-in-all school had lasted almost an hour longer then it normally would have, but Videl didn't really care.

She was just glad that school was over and the weekend was beginning. She was more then eager to continue her investigation of Gohan; she could just _feel_ she was on the brink of a breakthrough! At her side Erasa pulled her coat closed, complaining about how she was still cold. Videl didn't listen; Erasa was a grand complainer of small discomforts, but meant little harm with it. Instead, Videl's mind was racing, ignoring the slight fog that was growing.

'_Wait, a fog? The air wasn't even very humid these last few weeks.'_ Around her other people also looked surprised by the fog, but few seemed bothered by it. Videl wasn't bothered so much as she was surprised, so she just continued walking to the gates. When she reached them, however, she completely froze, fear gripping her heart like never before.

There, slowly, casually, walking through the fog, his hands in the pockets of his white khaki pants, his equally white jacket flapping in a slight breeze almost dramatically, stood Gohan.

The entire student body froze as they saw who it was, standing the center of the gate, but Gohan's eyes were completely on Videl, a wicked, terrifying smile on his face.

* * *

Thanks to my beta Kushin eX for going over this chapter and correcting any mistakes I've made.

Please leave a review telling me what you think.


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or anything related too it.

Clone names:  
Gohan – Nahog  
Videl – Levid  
Vegeta – Furuti  
Trunks – Tapara  
Bulma – Ropa

* * *

All activity in the surrounding area seemed to stop right then and there, as Gohan walked forward from the light fog, evil grin on his face. Videl, more so then anyone else, felt paralyzed by terror, seeing that look. She had seen it twice before, on occasions she wanted nothing more then forget. Wanted to, but couldn't.

While Gohan was still casually strolling through the school grounds, slowly making his way towards Videl and her friends, Videl's sight was suddenly blocked as Sharpener stepped forward. His bag, still full of books, was held at his side ready to be swung like a weapon as he stood before the two girls, but he was still visibly shaking with fear.

But he might as well have been air for all the attention that Gohan gave to him. Without a worry in the world, Gohan walked past the blond male, who had been his best friend before everything had happened and stood facing Videl and Erasa. Only now that she was actually looking up at him did Videl realize that she had been unable to make any kind of movement since Gohan had shown himself. Erasa was clinging to her arm, the two shaking almost synchronically.

Breaking through his fear, Sharpener finally managed to get moving again. Turning himself around, he swung his bag at Gohan's back. Before Videl could even see what had happened, Sharpener was flipped over and thrown into the two girls, knocking them all over.

Again Gohan slowly walked while everyone else was completely frozen and now he was looming over Videl and her friends with a terrifying smile on his face. Slowly Gohan pulled one hand out of his pocket and extended it, reaching for Videl. Before he could even get halfway through though, somethingelse happened.

Moving faster then Videl could clearly see, the new student – that amazingly annoying, bastard, stuck-up fatso of a James Simon Anthony Mitchell – moved forward, grabbed Gohan's hand and twisted around so he threw Gohan straight into the school's wall, some distance behind the trio of terrified teenagers.

The turn-about of events, completely unexpected and from the last person on earth she would have expected to have some martial ability, Videl was finally released from her fear-induced paralysis. Getting back on her feet, she turned around to see what had happened to Gohan. Mitchell had not just thrown him against the wall; he had thrown the madman straight _through _two walls and had collapsed a third.

"What the fuck!" Videl exclaimed, finally finding her voice again. "What did you do? Since when do you… how the hell do you know fighting?"

"Quiet." Mitchell commanded, never even looking away from Gohan, yet the command and authority in his voice was clear enough that Videl never even considered disobeying. The other students seemed equally surprised, but before anyone else could comment on it or do more than breathe again, Gohan stood up from underneath the rubble and laughed.

"I knew it!" He said, not a shred of doubt in his voice, but still sounding like a madman. "I just knew it was so, there was no other possibility, you'd never let anyone take your place in this. You're so _predictable_! That's what makes you so damn pathetic, you know that? Because you are unable to let go, still too stuck up to notice everything is going exactly the way _I_ want it to go! So many months of wanting revenge against me, trying to come up with so many clever ideas but always playing right into my hand. Tell me, how does it feel, knowing you're completely defeated before you even start?"

Surprised by Gohan's rant as much as the pure venom in his voice, Videl kept trying to look between Mitchell and Gohan, but it was clear she was missing something between the two. _Mitchell_ had been preparing to fight Gohan for months? Yet for all Gohan's efforts, Mitchell didn't even raise an eyebrow. This, more than anything, seemed to anger the black-haired teen.

In less then the blink of an eye, Gohan was next to Mitchell, holding the dirty-blond teen up by the collar.

"What's the matter, lost your tongue? Or is the realization of your complete and total defeat cutting in so badly you can't even reply to me? Well? Answer me! ANSWER ME GOHAN!"

Mitchell smiled at being called that, though Videl had no idea why on earth he'd do that, but Gohan had clearly finally gone completely crazy. As Mitchell smiled at Gohan, though, he started to shimmer lightly, until suddenly his entire appearance disappeared. Instead of the fat, dirty-blond teen with thick spectacles, a tall, lean, muscular and bald man of middle age appeared with a third eye on his forehead.

"Wha?" Before Gohan could finish his question, the bald man kneed him in the stomach and then slammed his elbow into Gohan's back, before picking him up and throwing him high into the sky. And he threw the mad teen _high_! Immediately afterward, he put his hands together and created a triangle with them, looking at Gohan through that triangle.

"Neo-Tri-Beam-Canon!" The Bald man shouted as he was suddenly enveloped in a bright flash of light before something that could not be seen seemed to rush forward. Despite not being visible, it was still very much there, whatever it was. Gohan was obviously knocked back, blood flowing from his nose from the blast. But that wasn't all of it; the building that Gohan was now floating in front of suddenly seemed to explode, several floors completely disappearing.

With a cry of "Kia!" the man fired another invisible blast and then another. Before he could get in more blasts though, a series of small, compact and powerful explosions covered the area.

XxX

As he was traveling through the sewer, Tapara was more then happy that he was wearing a gasmask with night vision built in. Sure, the mask would reduce his field of vision, but at least he could breathe without being distracted by the smell of the sewers. Unfortunately, he wasn't allowed to fly – there was a chance Piccolo could pick up even that small usage of energy and pinpoint him – so he was walking through the sewers.

Glancing at his watch again, Tapara double-checked himself. The watch was a special one; it showed not only the time, but also his position accurate to the centimeter. This watch was the only aid he had to keep on course. He was getting close now, with very little time left.

Stretching out his senses as far as they could, the teenage half-saiyan tried to locate where Piccolo was hiding, but the Namek was as skilled at keeping his presence hidden as anyone could be.

'_Oh well, time to get him out of the way._' Tapara thought, pulling the special device his mother had made for him out of his pocket. Activating it, the device gave loud bangs not unlike a clock bell sounded and it echoed nicely along the large tubes of the sewers. Throwing the device forward, Tapara pulled out a second and activated that as well, before throwing it the other way. It was enough noise to annoy him; with Piccolo's hyper-sensitive ears this must have been enough to cause nausea.

A light beep announced that Tapara had arrived at his destination, with almost a full minute left to prepare. Still distracted by the sound producing contraptions; Tapara tried to focus for the battle that lay ahead.

What he found around the final corner of the sewer was definitely not what he had expected.

XxX

The explosions in the immediate area could well not have existed for all the reaction that the bald man gave them. Instead of turning around to see what was going on, he gave another cry and Gohan was struck again, the building behind him now reduced to nothing but dust.

Before the bald man could strike again, though, someone else appeared behind him and kicked him in the back. Unprepared for the surprise attack, the triclops fell, but managed to correct himself before meeting with the ground. While falling he kicked back, but whoever had attacked him was already gone, now appearing before Videl.

As the attacker landed, Videl was again frozen with shock, though this time not with fear. She _knew_ this attacker. It was the face she saw every morning when she got showered and dressed, the face that looked back form the mirror when she was brushing her teeth. Her own face. And the hair…

She had seen that hair so often lately, appearing in her dreams, the spirit of her mother talking to her again, helping her get herself back together. Before the lookalike could say anything, or the possibilities could fully register in Videl's mind, the lookalike was blown away and Videl was pulled to her feet, though the hands were surprisingly gentle.

Gohan, wearing a blue martial arts gi, was helping her to her feet, while his eyes kept moving between Videl and a point in the sky. A point where Gohan, wearing his white kahki pants and black shirt, along with the remains of his ruined jacket, was floating.

'_Two Gohans? No, no, no, please don't be true._'

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Videl yelled in a panic, but the blue-clad Gohan that was holding her let her go gently, not a single bruise showing from his hold. Instead of saying anything, or even showing that insane smile that sent chills down Videl's back, the blue-clad Gohan turned around and looked over to where Videl's lookalike was lying. Apparently, he had been the one to throw her back, though she was uninjured. Even now, he didn't show any signs of going to hurt her, only raising his hand.

But Videl remembered very well what a single hand had done to the walls of her father's mansion, what seemed like a lifetime ago. The Gohan in the sky, in his torn clothes, also saw the threat, freezing on the spot with his eyes locked on the scene.

"You know what I can do right now." The blue-clad Gohan said. "Are you angry? I know neither you nor I ever really liked surprises. But more then that, there is one thing we would do anything to prevent, isn't there? Your advantage is gone Nahog! I have the upper hand now."

"You've never had the upper hand!" the Gohan in the sky – why had the other called him Nahog? – yelled, the venom he had directed at Mitchell earlier back in full force. "I'm everything you could ever hope to be, I'm superior to you in every way. I'll kill you, after I'm done ruining you! No matter what you try, Gohan, you'll never match me, never get the upper hand on me, do you hear me!"

"ENOUGH!" Videl yelled with fear, anger and confusion paramount in her voice. "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING N HERE!"

There were suddenly two Gohan's, both acting so very differently, but what was going on? How were there two Gohan's? What was the bodyguard of Emperor Chiaotzu doing here? Who was that lookalike with the same hair as her mother's ghost?

"Think, Dolly." Videl's lookalike said from her position, now standing up again. "There are two of them, there are two of us. They're not alike, just like we're not completely alike. Think, what trail did I set you on?"

Immediately Videl tried to remember every conversation she had had with the 'ghost' of her mother in her 'dreams.' Some things did not make sense, but the 'ghost' had always said to reach out past the obvious, consider wild guesses, take fantasies into consideration, not to take anything at it's face value, to look at everything like someone else had…

Just as realization hit Videl – a possibility that was almost impossible, but almost was not completely – two others appeared in the crowd. The flame-haired husband of Bulma Briefs – Vegeta, as she had learned after the World Summit – appeared suddenly, wearing tight blue combat clothing. On the other side of the blue-clad Gohan, Bulma Briefs herself appeared, waist-long hair tied up into a ponytail and wearing clothes similar to her husband's. They were both here for a fight.

But the blue-clad Gohan was already gone, disappeared from sight before the other two had even fully appeared.

XxX

Up in the sky, the debris of what had been a skyscraper still falling all around him, Nahog quickly tried to recover from what had happened. His clothes were ruined, which didn't concern him at all, but he had taken substantial damage from the unexpected attacks. Why _had_ Gohan given the task of protecting Videl to someone else? Surely, Gohan was not that free with his trust, even if he did not realize it himself?

But this was not the time for questions: Furuti and Ropa had already appeared, and Levid was also in position. With both Gohan and Tien having already disappeared, it was time for this act to get started.

"Get ready." Nahog said, quickly appearing in the middle of the school grounds, his back towards the three other clones. They had already assumed their square formation when the Z-fighters appeared around them a second later. Unlike what Nahog had expected, however, they did not make a closed circle upon appearing. Instead, they all hovered on different heights, Gohan and Vegeta opposite each other on the lowest level, with the others all on various heights, energy attacks already charging.

"Look out!" Furuti yells, quickly forming a shield around the school grounds. "It's a sphere formation, not a circle. It'll allow them to attack from any direction at any time they want to. Against something like this, a square-formation is useless. We need to keep a guard up against attacks in the vertical plain."

Apparently, the rough voice – or the appearance of over half a dozen people who were floating in the sky – was enough to break the hold of terror on the students of the school. With all the chaos and cries of a mass panic attack, the students all scattered, running through each other, the gates and the doors to school in equal disorder.

Even as he saw the energy attacks being readied – apparently, the Z-fighters had realized how badly they needed a first strike if they were willing to attack before evacuating the area and were no doubt planning on using the Dragonballs after the fight was over – Nahog saw something else that made his heart skip a beat.

Floating directly opposite of Levid, higher than Gohan and Vegeta, nearly at the top of the sphere, was Piccolo.

The world was devoured by a mass of yellow light as the Z-warriors attacked.

XxX

While he looked through the darkness of the sewer with his mask, Tapara could feel the bursts of energy from above, indicating that the fight up above had begun. The sound-blasts must have been more damaging to Piccolo then had been anticipated, because for the last few seconds, Tapara had been gathering his energy, ready to strike, but the Namek had never shown himself.

As his watch gave it's second signal – a low, short zoom – Tapara was made aware that the time had come for his attack. Gathering the energy to his hands, the purple-haired half-saiyan raised his hands to the ceiling, ready to disrupt the enemy's formation with a single strike.

Before he had even realized what had happened, Tapara was knocked in the flow of sewage water, submerging fully for a second before he could blow the foul liquid away with his energy. Someone or something had attacked him in the back, but a strike of that kind of force would have to be sensed before it could hit. Maybe Piccolo was be-

Collapsing under the sudden knee in his stomach, obviously thrown from the side, Tapara was grasping for breath when his assailant reached out and removed the mask from his face. Now locked in complete darkness, as blind as could possibly be, Tapara could still hear the signs of the mask being crushed while he tried to cover his nose. The stench was _horrid_, even worse then anything he had anticipated.

Forced to take deep breaths to regain precious oxygen, Tapara nearly became nauseous thanks to the odors assaulting his nose, but his assailant wasn't finished with him yet; a strike to the temple – from the other side of where the knee had come from – sent Tapara into the wall. Quickly bracing himself for the follow-up kick, Tapara raised his guard tightly, but instead of kicking, the mysterious attacker grabbed him by his jacket, rendering his guard useless, and threw him into the flow of urine and poop again.

This time, Tapara had no mask to protect his face while he dived, getting his eyes, nose and even his mouth filled with the excrement.

'That's it, Piccolo, your Namek ass is mine!' Tapara could barely stop himself from uttering some of the more colorful language his father had demonstrated at times, but talking now would have only worsened the situation and his eyes were already stinging. It was all he could do not to puke out everything that had ever entered his body.

With a blast of bright light suddenly illuminating the entire sewer; Tapara transformed into a Super-Saiyan. The transformation evaporating or disintegrating the remains of human waste that stuck to his person. Quickly the teenage half-saiyan turned around, hoping to pinpoint his Namekian enemy while he was blinded by the sudden flash of light, but instead of the tall, green form of Piccolo he found someone else entirely.

#18 was apparently not bothered by the increase in light at all, since the beautiful android simply struck Tapara in the stomach hard with one fist, before punching him in the temple with her other hand. The combination – once again robbing him of his only recently regained supply of air – was enough to knock the teenager out, if only for a second. The transformation dropped along with his consciousness, once again making Tapara fight in the dark.

'_Dammit, this isn't good!_' Tapara was ready to curse himself, but instead he turned around and fled. '_I'm not prepared to fight her. I was supposed to fight a nearly defenseless Piccolo, not her!_' Despite his attempt at quickly fleeing, Tapara did not get far; unable to see in the dark without his goggles, the teen almost immediately crashed into a wall.

Apparently, #18 didn't share this weakness, since she almost immediately pulled the teen out of the wall's rubble, and delivered several punches, before throwing him into the water again. She must have been enjoying that…

But being submerged gave Tapara the time he needed to gather his energy again. Once more, he transformed into a Super Saiyan, quickly escaping the stinking waters and ready for the fight this time. But #18 had once again vanished from his sights, only to reappear behind him, pink energy blast already formed and being shoved into his abdomen.

The blinding light off the massive explosion was all that Tapara could see while he felt the excruciating pain of the blast.

XxX

In the school grounds, Furuti and Nahog were both burning through their energy to keep up a protective shield from the rain of energy blasts. Both were trying to cover as large an area as possible, shielding the normal humans from the deadly and destructive rain. Not for the first time, Nahog felt regret of not simply brainwashing the clones to be loyal to his cause, rather then adding false memories and making them live in a lie.

When the rain of blasts lessened, Nahog looked up, trying to find the cause – had Tapara realized something was wrong and changed the plan, attacking them from behind? – But still had to keep the shield up. Several of the Z-fighters left the area, apparently moving in small groups to attend to one task or another, while some remained to keep the suppressive rain of energy blasts up.

Lining up their shields to defend more efficiently, both Furuti and Nahog reduced the amount of energy required to defend the area, allowing them to gain a quick breather, when the ground below their feet exploded in a massive blast of pink light. Almost devoured by the blast, Tapara was barely recognizable as he was catapulted into the sky, falling like a ragdoll. The boy was obviously unconscious at best; it was very likely that the attack had been strong enough to kill him.

But to Nahog that wasn't his primary concern; the attack from underground had served to destroy _his_ formation, rather then striking at Gohan's, like the original plan had been. The explosion followed just a little behind the blast, quickly devouring all four of the clones that remained on ground-level.

XxX

After having jumped back when the white-and-black wearing Gohan – who the other, blue-clad Gohan had referred to as Nahog – landed, Videl, Erasa and Sharpener were completely isolated from the others. When the rain of yellow lights – which were clearly more dangerous then the average missile! – had started, almost all of the students of Orange Star High had vanished in a manner very much like how the Gohans and all those others had appeared.

Videl very much hoped that it meant some of those flying fighters were carrying the civilians to a protected area, but there was no way to be sure. And from where she and her two best friends were lying – directly behind the four people being targeted and had formed a square – it would have been next to impossible for anyone to reach them.

The fight was apparently progressing in places Videl had never thought of, since the ground in between the clones suddenly cracked open and a pink beam erupted from the hole, much like a volcano spewing lava in a movie. She thought she could make out a shape atop the pink beam, but before much more could register, the beam was followed by an explosion.

Sharpener, who was standing in front of Videl and Erasa, had turned around as soon as he ground had cracked and jumped for the girls, but he could barely envelop them in a tight, crushing bear-hug before the explosion devoured them all.

* * *

As always, much thanks to my beta Kushin eX for going over this chapter for me.

Please leave a review telling me what you think.


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or anything related to it.

Clone names:  
Gohan – Nahog  
Videl – Levid  
Vegeta – Furuti  
Trunks – Tapara  
Bulma – Ropa

A/N: This chapter is un-beta'd because Kushin (my usual beta) has had a very busy period with school and has a Kendo tournament this weekend. He'll go over the chapter when he gets back, until then.. all mistakes are mine. I'll upload the beta'd version as soon I've got it.

* * *

All around them, battle exploded into being. Gohan was pleased to see that everyone set to doing the task that was appointed to them, but he paid little attention to them. Instead, his eyes were focused purely on his target.

Floating some thirty meters above him, his jacket singed from the explosion but otherwise looking unharmed, was Nahog. Gohan could imagine that the death glare his clone was giving him was probably returned in kind on his own face. The two simply existed there for a time a explosions appeared around them, along with other signs of battle, their eyes never losing contact until, finally, the two moved.

They met in the exact middle, fists clashing into each other, before both disappeared and reappeared some twenty meters higher, kicking against each other. Another disappearance, now atop a flat, both blocking a punch of the other and almost immediately disappearing again. Finally, they reappeared floating just above the Orange Star High building, still glaring at each other.

"So, this is your grand master plan?" Nahog's voice was filled with satisfaction as he made his accusation. "You fight me, hope to defeat me and pray that the world will forgive you for the crimes that have been committed? I know you're naive Gohan, but this is pushing it, even for you."

"Yeah, I know. Which is why that isn't my plan." Gohan's voice was also filled with confidence, something that seemed to surprise Nahog. Well, if he was expecting pure, unadulterated rage and fury, he was at the wrong address. Gohan was long past that stage. Now, whenever he thought of Nahog, an icy coolness came over him, giving him a cool sense of purpose and perspective.

"Have your friends safe as many lives as they can and hope they'll vouch for you? A much, much better plan indeed." Nahog returned, amusement now clear in his voice. Even so, Gohan didn't waver or look confused, he only returned the glare of hatred.

"No Nahog. For all your intelligence, it seems you're a bit lacking in creativity. Or maybe it's just that I haven't discovered I can be creative until recently. No, my plan is based on something much more effective."

That statement got Nahog's attention, though he did control his confusion enough to not falter, but Gohan saw the change in his expression before he continued.

"Why don't I explain it?" Gohan suggested, though he still didn't relieve his stance. If Nahog really had inherited all his traits, he would inherently be curious, so this was a final test for his theory of sorts. Of course, there was a far more important reason as well.

"Oh yes, do explain your most recent attempt at restoring your piss-poor self."

"It's in here." Gohan said, tapping one finger to the side of his face, pointing at his eye. "Bulma created micro-camera's that I've injected into my eyes before coming here. Everything I see and hear, they record and – via several satellite uplinks and the like – broadcast all around the world. It pushes every other transmission away; all over the world, TV's, computers, phones and everything else that receives signals from the outside is broadcasting what I see and hear. It's time for the world to know the truth Nahog."

Nahog really did look surprised by that, realizing he had failed to predict this outcome. Gohan had needed this time to explain to the entire world what it was they were suddenly watching and Nahog had given him the perfect opportunity to do so. The tables had turned, unlike anything that Nahog had expected; Gohan was now in control and Nahog was one step behind.

"Is it now? We'll just see about that!"

With a cry of rage, the clone launched himself at his creator, his original and, in the most basic meaning of the word, his father.

XxX

All around them, explosions rose up and died down, bright lights flaring and powerful winds appearing from out of nowhere. Videl was held down by some weight pressed up against her body, but she could still feel the pandemonium going on around her. it felt like the world was being destroyed around her, but there was nothing she could do about it. A whimper came from Videl's side, a familiar voice that sounded as terrified as Videl felt.

"Erasa!" Videl coughed, her mouth full of dust and dirt. The nearby explosion had really done a number on her, even talking seemed to hurt! Still, her many years of training, of accepting her fear and pain but not succumbing to it, allowed her to remain in control. "Are you alright? Are you hurt? Can you move?"

"Videl?" The terror was still clear in her friend's voice. Erasa had never been taught how to deal with something that scared her. "What's going on? Where is everyone? I'm afraid! I don't want to die!"

"We're not going to die!" Videl immediately returned. At times of terror, someone always had to seem in control, ensuring those that did panic that everything would be alright. Although Videl was terrorized on the inside, she didn't reveal any of her fear to her friend. "Now, on three, we're both going to push ourselves up with our arms and then scramble out of here. Ready? One, two, three!"

The two of them pushed as hard as they could, which fortunately proved enough. A random explosion – a distant, still analytical aspect of Videl's mind wondered where those explosions came from – helped out by burning most of the ruble above them away. The two girls crawled forward, reaching out to open ground and Videl allowed herself to check just how the two of them were doing.

All in all, it could have been worse. Videl had a number of small cuts and burns all over her body, mostly around her left arm. It was painful, but she could still move it almost normally. Erasa wasn't as well off; a piece of debris had slashed open most of the blonde's left leg and there was a slight stream of blood seemingly coming from her left ear as well. Fortunately Videl had been on Erasa's right side, otherwise the girl wouldn't even have heard her orders. That only left…

Sharpener! Where was Sharpener? Why hadn't he called out to them already, worrying about how the two of them were doing, whining about how his hair was probably messed up or his perfect body now bore a scratch. At Videl's side, Erasa's mind must have followed the same thoughts, because both turned to look back at the same time.

Sharpener had grabbed them as the massive explosion outside had hit. Sharpener had protected them from the blast, shielding them from it, with his own body. Slowly, reluctantly but knowing she had to see it, Videl turned to look at the rubble she had just escaped from.

Tears streamed down her face at the sight before her. Erasa, at Videl's side, sat with her mouth open in a silent scream of horror as tears also streamed down her face. Videl regretted having looked back.

Sharpener had protected them from the blast with his own body, but he hadn't been immune to the effects himself. She could see where part of his body had been completely disintegrated, almost like large parts of his back simply… weren't there anymore. His face was still intact, so… he might have… Videl didn't even want to think about it.

But there was even more. As if to make sure to finish the job, almost all the debris had landed on top of Sharpener. His legs had been squished flat by the stones and more then a few seemed to have landed on his head as well, making it impossible to see anything even remotely resembling his face. Perhaps that was for the better.

There, surrounded by explosions and battles and sound blasts and everything else that she couldn't understand, Videl crashed to her knees at the corpse of one of her best friends. Tears flowing down her cheeks, all she could do was sit there next to the blond, often obnoxious and frilly boy who had saved her life.

Sit, cry and weep. The world could die for all she cared. The fighting should have ended, right then and there. The world should have come to a grinding stop.

Sharpener was _dead_!

XxX

Immediately after #18 had burst out of the sewers, Piccolo had joined her and the two tried to rush over towards the injured Trunks clone. Before they could get properly underway though, they were stopped by a short but precise barrage of energy attacks.

An instant later the Bulma clone appeared before them with a look of fierce determination, her waist-length green hair kept in a ponytail to prevent it getting in the way too much. Both the Namekian and the Android knew that they didn't really understand the kind of power this clone could wield, as Yamcha had explained them after his short fight with her, so both took their fighting pose. They had been chosen for this specific task because of one important thing that set them apart from the human fighters; they could do what was needed, even if it was killing someone who they had considered a friend.

As they prepared to charge and overpower the clone, something else smashed into the beautiful woman from the side. Krillin had rushed forward, blindsiding the Bulma clone and kicking her away. With a single gesture of his hand, Krillin ordered the other two fighters to go finish of the Trunks clone. Chiaotzu was only a little behind the black-haired fighter, glowing with energy.

They'd hold the Bulma clone, until the next rotation of the evacuation squads relieved them. The Trunks clone was almost defeated, it was more important to kill him now. The Bulma clone stabilized herself after a second, just stopping herself from crashing into a building, and rushed back, hoping to still be able to save her son.

The two small fighters still stood in her way, Krillin in his Turtle Stance, Chiaotzu at his side glowing blue as he prepared to use a combination of his psychic and energy abilities. Behind them, Piccolo and #18 landed in the crash zone of the Trunks clone.

XxX

Vegeta ground his teeth together as a fist buried itself in his abdomen, continuing his own attack despite the interruption. His fist made contact with the side of his opponent's head, who equally ground his teeth and refused to yield. Both disappeared and reappeared instantly, moving so fast they were at half a dozen places at once.

Vegeta punched through an after-image in the middle of the street, then followed his clone, blocking his attack on top of a building. At almost the same time, they nearly clashed in the middle of an office, but the clone only kicked at Vegeta's after image. Then they were in the meeting hall of yet another building, their fists colliding.

The resulting explosion of power of their attacks colliding, both strong enough to level mountains, neither wielding, destroyed all buildings in the street, nothing but rubble remaining. Yet both Vegeta and his clone had disappeared before the first cracks in the wall had even shown themselves.

Again and again they met, leaving destruction in their wake. This part of the city had been the first to be evacuated and Vegeta was glad for it. He could fight without having to worry about weakling humans in the area.

Their battle, for now, was simply testing one another, dragging the fighting out with repeated games of cat-and-mouse, running and countering their opponent. There was no cowardice in this way of fighting, Saiyans knew no cowardice in battle. As long as there was battle, any tactic was allowed. Hit-and-run was simply a sensible form of battle, a fine way of learning your enemies abilities and reactions.

His enemy was identical to himself and that realization gave Vegeta a feeling unlike any before. A feeling he hadn't felt since he had fought Kakarot. The feeling of fighting a true equal.

Speed, strength, tactics, experience, this was someone who truly matched him blow for blow. A battle unlike any other anyone had ever fought. A battle of true equals.

Nothing like when he fought Frieza, when fear and hatred were smoldering in his heart. Nothing like the androids, where the extend of his opponent's abilities was unknown. Nothing like Cell, where his arrogance at the pale and ugly imitation had overcome him. This battle depended on Vegeta's years of combat experience and ability to improvise on the field. An ability his enemy shared in perfect measure.

An enemy who, unlike Kakarot, would kill him if given the chance. An enemy who, unlike the brat, would enjoy this battle to it's full extend, be it brutally short or painfully long. An enemy who, unlike the Namek, could match him blow for blow.

A perfect enemy.

As they clashed again, Vegeta and his clone both wore what could only be described as a grim grin. A true Saiyan's expression in a good fight. Focused, but enjoying every moment of it.

Vegeta was glad that he had ordered the Namek to attack him, wounding him before the Younger Namek healed him. It allowed him to match his clone from the start of the fight. blow for blow they were equals. Blow for blow this battle continued.

Finally the two of them stopped their hide-and-seek battle, both floating above the remains of the city below. An entire district was leveled because of their chasing game. Finally, the two of them looked at each other, floating there, expression equal.

Both let out identical battle cries as golden aura's sprang to life around them. Their hair and eyes changed, becoming gold and green. The transformation to the legendary level of Super Saiyan, the greatest warriors the universe had ever known.

Now, the testing was done. Only now did their battle truly begin.

XxX

"Come… on… get… up!" Tapara told himself as he tried to push himself to his feet. It had already taken effort to turn himself around so he laid on his belly instead of his back, but now he couldn't push himself further to get up. When he had put his hand on the ground and pushed, he had failed to maintain his form, his arm instead turning into mercury and splashing onto the ground again.

He could see Piccolo and #18 approaching him. Them again! It was always them. But he knew, from the warnings of Nahog and his father, and from his own experience against these two, that he was no match for either of them. He had to get out, but he couldn't stand, let alone run. So he did the only thing he could.

He completely released his body, completely turning it into mercury and disappearing into the rubble around him.

'_Thanks for creating all this mess #18._' He sarcastically thought as he made his way to a better position to hide. The mercury could slip into the tiniest of holes, hiding him from sight in places where no Human, Saiyan, Namek or Android could reach. All around him, the skeletons of the city lay.

A ruined building, it's stone front destroyed, only some of it's metal frame remaining. A sewer pipe that had been send flying and had crashed into a house, another piece that had shattered a bus stop. Cars all around that had been smashed, or blasted or otherwise damaged beyond repair.

There was metal all around him and for some reason it attracted the mercury that was now Tapara's form. Separating himself into various pools, the teen split up to investigate several of the metal constructs. Just as Piccolo and #18 arrived, some of the pools of mercury had arrived and latched onto the metal workings.

Then, while the two attackers were still looking for Tapara, the most wondrous thing happened; the mercury that was latched on started to absorb the other metals, replenishing him and healing his injuries. Immediately he split up further, intend on absorbing as much metal as possible.

No-one, not even Nahog, had told him anything of this. Maybe they didn't know. Maybe this was an unexpected side effect of being, essentially, made out of metal himself. But Tapara didn't question it. He had an advantage now, one he didn't intend to give away. The mercury quickly absorbed several cars, an entire sewage pipe and part of a building's metal skeleton. Only with all that metal absorbed into him did Tapara feel fully recovered.

'_I'll have to be careful._' He did realize as he reassumed his human form. '_I can't afford to spend time absorbing such large quantities of metal all the time. And I'm feeling a lot heavier then I did before. Must be because of the lower quality of the metals compared to what I'm originally made off. I can't afford to take any chances, especially with these two, so let's try it this way.._'

All the mercury gathered behind where Piccolo and #18 were standing, solidifying Tapara in a perfect blind spot. Focusing for a second, Tapara noticed that one of his hands was now more metal-like then it had been before. another side-effect, though not one to worry about. Finally, he stepped out, transforming into a Super Saiyan as he did so. Two orbs of energy sprang to life in his hands and he immediately combined them in the imitation of his father's strongest attack. The two attackers had no time to escape the attack.

"Big Tree Cannon!"

XxX

Krillin felt a familiar sense of fear in his heart, a fear he had always felt when in battle, especially against such powerful opponents. The fear made him wary, but he had not allowed it to control him since the battle with Nappa all those years ago. As he flew throughout the city, he extended his senses, trying to find more people. Two minutes into the battle, but from what Krillin could tell, the evacuation was complete. It was handy that each of the Z-fighters was able to carry over a hundred people in one run, then come back and do it again in less then three seconds. It had emptied this part of the city very quickly.

And those that hadn't been reached in time… well, unfortunately, no plan was perfect and war would always have casualties no-one wanted to have.

He and Chiaotzu had had a brief encounter with the Bulma clone, attacking her to free the way for Piccolo and #18. The fight had been brief, but rather brutal. Krillin should have expected it, but Bulma fought unlike most enemies the two small fighters had faced. Most opponents got very overconfident when they saw such small enemies. Most people would underestimate the abilities of Krillin and Chiaotzu in battle, because they didn't look as imposing.

But Bulma had seen enemies fight with that idea in mind for decades. Had seen hundreds beaten down by the two small men, because of their arrogance. So, the Bulma clone had fought with caution, knowing she lacked the means to go up against the two of them at once. She played a game of hide-and-seek with them. The smart way to fight against superior numbers, against superior enemies.

She had attacked Krillin once, firing a beam that Krillin hadn't sensed coming, a beam without energy in it. Only his faster-then-light reflexes had saved him. He'd jerked back his head and now only had a cut just above his eye. It didn't bleed either, the strange beam had burned it close right away. Immediately after that attack, Chiaotzu had collapsed an entire building on the green-haired woman and the two of them had returned to evacuating civilians.

Chances were she was probably still alive, but saving lives took priority at that time. Already Tien and Goten had already returned and were keeping a watchful eye, ready to attack anyone who interfered with the evacuation. But Krillin stopped thinking back to his last encounter with the clones as he felt a pulse of energy coming from beneath. It was short, but spiked. Someone strong for an ordinary human was in there. Inside the building of Orange Star High.

Glancing around, Krillin saw Gohan and Nahog still locked in combat up in the sky. Both were now in the first stages of Super Saiyan, but neither was giving any ground to the other. Their fight was nothing short of brutal. Some distance away, Krillin could feel Vegeta and his clone fighting as well, though they were obviously using more tactic then the two Gohan's simple hit-for-hit fighting. The city's was already turning into a complete wasteland around them.

Looking down, Krillin realized that he really had to hurry inside the building; a young girl with long black hair ran straight for the entrance of the school, moving _through_ several solid rocks.

'_Guess I've found a clone. Let's get ready for a fight._'

XxX

The evacuation was only barely complete, the people brought to safety before they even knew what had happened. The two remaining evacuation teams, Goten, Tien, Trunks and Yamcha, were floating just a little above the city, waiting to see a clone appear or an opening to be made for them to enter the fight.

Chiaotzu and Krillin had been on the last guard-squad and they were already scouting the area out, looking for stray survivors or easy pickings with the clones.

A huge explosion suddenly devoured most of the western part of the city. Piccolo's energy signature was right where the blast had happened, and they could immediately identify the attacker as well; the Trunks clone. If Piccolo was there, then so was #18. That would provide the best chance of closing in around a clone and finishing it off.

"No!" Goten cried in rage, "Mr. Piccolo!" Without further warning, the young boy turned into a Super Saiyan and sped off. He had a similar level of respect for the green man as his brother did. An instant later, Trunks was at his side, his hair also golden.

"Damnit, they're breaking the formation!" Tien cursed, he and Yamcha shooting forward to follow them. In all honesty, the two adult humans were surprised that they had even followed orders this long, but now was possibly more critical then before.

Sensing another attack coming their way, Yamcha and Tien quickly split apart, the blast passing between them harmlessly. Flipping over in the air, Tien blocked a kick while Yamcha quickly fired a blast at the offender.

The Bulma clone. She looked like she had already been in the worst of the fighting so far; her hair was cut off unevenly, most likely from a narrow dodge, her clothing and skin was dirty from rubble and bruises. An appearance that the real Bulma wouldn't tolerate if she could stand it. But she still looked a lot like Bulma.

And she was holding up an unconscious Chiaotzu.

"Here." She said as she tossed the small emperor towards Tien. "I don't want to kill someone I once considered a friend. Put him someplace safe." Tien gave a grateful nod before quickly vanishing.

"I don't suppose that you would feel bad about fighting old friends as well, right? Especially old boyfriends." Yamcha tried, though he knew it wouldn't happen, not that easy.

"No, I can live with fighting you." The Bulma clone said, "I don't like killing you, I don't like killing anyone. But I'll fight, because I have too. No-one else will stop you. No-one else _can_ stop you."

Yamcha was confused, but he didn't show it. Stop them? Why'd they need to be stopped? Before he had time to think on it though, the clone attacked.

She was fast, brutal and knew just how to hit. It was just like the last time he had fought her, only now her power was more constant. She felt like she was on his own level, able to fight him equally.

Too bad she stayed visible this time. Yamcha definitely had the edge in experience and actual fighting. He blocked her attacks, countering with his own. But the clone was fast and agile; she dodged all his attacks, then jumped back, ready to fire a barrage of energy.

"Bring it on!" she yelled, releasing her attacks. Yamcha did the same, his blasts perfectly equal to the clone's. He could have sped up the blasts, force her back. It would probably be the better thing to do; he still had difficulty bringing himself to fight against his first love. But something stopped him.

Tien suddenly appeared behind the clone, kneeing her in the back and sending her flying through two building into the street. She left a sizable ditch behind her, stunned for a second.

"I've secured Chiaotzu, he's a bit outside the city's perimeter." The tri-clops told him. "Do a quick check of the surrounding area, then help me take her down."

"Got it." Yamcha quickly disappeared. Tien was, admittedly, the better fighter between the two and he had less trouble with fighting Bulma then Yamcha had. Yamcha was glad for the reprisal.

The Bulma clone jumped up, firing blast after blast at Tien. The bald man simply deflected each of the blasts, throwing several back at her. Ropa evaded them equally, but she stayed away from Tien much more then she did with Yamcha. Instead of coming in close to fight him, she peppered him with energy attacks. Well, Tien was much more skilled in close-combat then Yamcha was, so the tactic made sense.

Tien, however, was also very skilled in closing in on his opponents. Within moments he had closed the gap and kneed the clone in the gut. Another knee to the face brought her back to her normal height. Fists and feet flying, Tien landed numerous hits on the clone's body before she could react and defend herself. Releasing a full-power energy blast from her body, the clone forced Tien to back off.

Blood was flowing from her mouth and she had difficulty breathing and was obviously trying to recover a bit. The assault had been effective. But Tien wasn't about to let up on her now. Pressing his advantage, he charged forward again.

Only to pass right through the clone. Turning around surprised, Tien saw the clone disappear, but it wasn't an after image. Before he could try to locate her again, a dozen of the clones appeared around him, each looking identical.

'_Of course!_' Yamcha realized as he observed the fight. '_She can turn invisible, but she must have some way of controlling light. That's how she carried of that Trunks clone at the World Summit! And now she's using it to create illusions._'

His check of the area was complete, there was no-one left alive here. Instead he had set himself to observing the fight, waiting for a chance to launch that quick killing blow. He would have to do it. Even if it was his old girlfriend.

Up in the sky, Tien crossed his arms in front of him, his energy rapidly rising.

"Multi-form technique!" immediately Tien split off into a dozen copies as well, each one rushing to another clone. Most passed right through, but were still hit by some sort of beam that damaged them. There was no energy signature in the beam, but it still damaged Tien.

'_Perhaps another of her light-manipulating abilities._' Yamcha thought. '_Now, let's give Tien a bit of help. That one._'

Only one of the Bulma's was fighting back, not being passed through. That was the real clone. Immediately Yamcha grabbed his wrist and started gathering energy there. Up in the air, Tien narrowly dodged Bulma's attacks, too slow to keep up with her now that he had divided his energy into twelve forms.

"Super Spirit Ball!" Yamcha yelled as he released his attack.

Well, Tien may have split himself a bit too thin – literally in this case – but that was why he wasn't alone.

XxX

Piccolo pushed himself back to his feet, sweat already appearing on his brow. He hadn't expected the clone to attack as suddenly and powerful as that. He was much better at hiding his energy signature then Piccolo would have thought. The barrier that had protected Piccolo was barely raised in time. He couldn't see #18, but he would have to trust the android would be alright. She possessed a powerful shield herself and her reaction time was higher then his.

Standing up, Piccolo looked around, trying to locate the clone, but he was hiding his energy signature again.

'_Where'd he go?_' his eyes quickly scanned his surroundings, ears alert for every sound, but again he was attacked from behind. Not by a punch or a kick or a blast, but by something… liquid. Knowing of the teenage clone's ability, Piccolo disappeared, allowing the mercury to pass through his after-image, and immediately attacked his former position with a powerful blast.

The liquid shot up from the explosion, quickly forming the teenager's body again. Oddly enough, his left hand hadn't regained it's normal color, but Piccolo didn't take the time to ask questions. Instead he attacked before the boy was fully formed.

The half-liquid form didn't even raise a defense, instead letting Piccolo's punches hit and splash some of the metal away. Ending his combination with a kick, Piccolo severed the body in two, but the two halves simply drifted back together and reattached. Floating back a little, Piccolo tried to analyze the situation, hoping to come up with a counter to these unexpected abilities.

The clone, however, didn't give the Namek the time he needed to think. Golden hair now standing in full spikes, the teen charged forward, his fist raised. Piccolo immediately raised his arm to defend, but he wasn't punched or kicked like he had expected. Instead, the clone morphed his hand into a blade before it hit and immediately slashed the Namekian's arm off.

Suppressing a howl of pain as everything above his elbow fell to the ground, Piccolo leaned back just enough to evade the next strike, the boy's other hand having formed into an axe.

A pink energy attack slammed into the clone's back, stunning him for a second and making him drop his guard in surprise. Piccolo struck in that moment.

"EXPLOSIVE WAVE!"

A wave of powerful yellow energy emerged from Piccolo's fist, combining with the second pink-hued blast that came from behind the trunks clone, scattering the liquid teen all over the area.

"Damnit, he turned liquid just before the explosion." #18 muttered as she flew into Piccolo's field of vision. Her clothing and hair was dirtied, but other then that she looked fine. With a thought, Piccolo regenerated his arm, before turning to look around.

"Be careful." Piccolo warned as the two floated back to back, trying to identify their quarry. "He can move almost undetectable and can change his body's shape to either negate our attacks or easily penetrate our defenses. He's in full control this time."

"Understood. I'm trying to locate him, but he's not giving off any heat or radiation while in his liquid form. This might me more annoying then I'd thought."

While still looking around, a nearby building – one of the few still left standing – suddenly toppled over and nearly crashed into them. Both the Namek and the android quickly disappeared and reappeared a safe distance up in the sky.

"Did you hear anyone attacking that building? My sensor's didn't pick anything up." Worry slipped into #18's voice. If this thing could evade all forms of detection…

"No, I heard something, but it wasn't like an attack. It sounded more like a faint splash, like water on… like liquid on metal." A sudden thought dawned on Piccolo. #18's earlier attack in the sewers had heavily damaged the clone, but when Piccolo had his brief clash, the boy had been at full strength. Could it be?

As if to answer his question, the mass of mercury rose to the sky and reformed the Trunks clone. The more metallic gleam had now spread to his other hand as well and most of his left arm. Something was up.

"He must be able to absorb other metals to heal himself." Piccolo quickly surmised. "That's how he dropped the building on us; he absorbed it's foundations, toppling it our way while he healed."

"Wow…" the Trunks clone whistled as he floated in an almost relaxed posture. "Man, Nahog and dad told me you were smart but… man, after only seeing it once? Even I didn't know about it until just now. But this'll be over soon."

Again the youth charged forward, but Piccolo and #18 were ready for him. Piccolo charged right back, while #18 stayed a little further back, launching a rain of energy blasts towards the clone. The Namek and half-saiyan met, but instead of joining the fight immediately, Piccolo moved just past the clone, escaping the slashing motion made at his head. Instead, Piccolo ended just behind the clone and jackhammered the boy in the back.

His combined fists passed through a mass of liquid metal as the clone dissolved only that part of his body. A third hand suddenly shot out of the boy's body, five fingers with deadly sharp nails aimed directly between Piccolo's eyes. The Namek destroyed the hand by blasting it with his eye-lasers, but still had to back away. The clone reformed himself, but was immediately beset by #18.

Where Piccolo had tried a hit-and-run tactic, the beautiful blond used a much more aggressive fighting, masterfully combining close combat and low-power energy blasts delivered at point blank to lock the clone down, preventing him from fighting back. Any attacks that he did manage to launch at her, the blond evaded thanks to her fast-as-light reaction speed and she almost immediately made the boy pay with a painful counterattack.

On any normal enemy, a tactic like that would have been highly effective. Unfortunately, the clone was not a normal enemy. #18's punches and kicks merely hit mercury, but the clone's attacks were solid. She evaded them, but her counters had little to no effect. Suddenly two streams of liquid metal shot forth out of the clone's chest and wrapped around the android, trapping her in place. It held her only a second before she broke free with a burst of energy, but that was enough for the clone.

An orb of energy formed in each hand, the clone smashed his hands at the side of the blonde's head, hitting her while blasting her with a point-blank range. A suicide tactic. One that the cloned boy could afford to make, thanks to his special ability to recover.

'_Wait a second._' Piccolo realized as he watched the fight. '_Saiyans are supposed to get stronger every time they recover, but he's no faster or stronger then he was when he faced me, despite the severe injuries he suffered from those two blasts. Either he's not really healing when he's absorbing other metals, or it's slowing him down enough to not matter._'

It wasn't much, but at least they didn't have to worry about the Trunks clone getting stronger with every attack. In that, it was less dangerous then the Vegeta clone. His ability simply represented other forms of trouble.

Piccolo saw #18 fall down from the explosion, though she didn't seem that badly injured. She'd need only a few seconds to recover, so that meant it was Piccolo's turn to enter the fight again.

The clone was already out of the explosion before Piccolo got there, smashing his fist into the Namekian's face. Or he would have, if Piccolo hadn't used an after-image and appeared behind the golden-haired warrior. An axe chop severed head from body, but again the two simply reconnected with the liquid metal.

Piccolo followed this attack up with an eye-laser piercing the boy's head before it could reconnect, but the head simply parted to let the blast through. The body was hit by a blast from Piccolo's hands, but Piccolo was forced back by a full-power dome of energy all around the clone.

Piccolo backed away, but the clone suddenly burst out of the explosion, clashing into him. Piccolo barely deflected the clone's arms, which now both sported wicked blades instead of hands, but this left him unable to defend against the clone's follow up.

Spikes of metal suddenly burst forth from the clone's body, piercing Piccolo's chest, neck and stomach. Then the spikes expended, severing the Namekian's body into four pieces.

Piccolo could only watch as he fell to the ground, sliced into pieces, amazement still on his features. He could see the look of utter surprise on the clone's face at having won the battle against two of such fearsome enemies, then quickly saw it change to victory.

That look lasted only a second, before two other attacks took it form behind.

"Kamkameha!"

"Buster Cannon!"

* * *

As you may notice, I've taken a lot of the attacks' names from the various DBZ games, if you're uncertain about a specific attack, I'd recommend you check the DBZ wikia to learn who performs which technique.

As always, please leave a review telling me what you think.


	23. Chapter 23

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to DBZ, the DBZ universe or anything of the sort.

A/N: be warned, this chapter will be LONG.

Clone names:  
Gohan – Nahog  
Videl – Levid  
Vegeta – Furuti  
Trunks – Tapara  
Bulma – Ropa

* * *

'_Oh please, let me be on time!_' Krillin thought as he ran into the school building, following after the Videl Clone. '_What the hell is she going to do inside the school building though? Well, no time to question it, lemme see if I can take her out in one shot._'

Fortunately, the clone's energy signal was pretty easy to follow, since it was so unique. It didn't feel natural at all, even more so than the Bulma clone's. The power fluctuations that had occurred at first had been stabilized, but her power level still jumped around more than normal. Reaching the school's main entrance, Krillin ran in between the debris, clearing the gigantic hole his wife had created when she blasted her way out of the sewers, and crouched down.

Three girls stood in the hallway, over what looked like a mass of other debris, two of them kneeling on the ground and the third standing behind them. A second look showed Krillin that a mass of blond hair stuck out of the debris. Those girls were standing near a body then. Krillin felt a bit sorry for them, having to lose a friend in this kind of chaos, but right now he had another concern.

One of those girls was Videl and another was her clone.

The clone, who was the only one standing, also kneeled down in between the two others. The sudden addition seemed to wake up Videl and her friend from their shock, but the clone ignored them. Raising her hand, the clone slowly touched the face of whomever it was that was lying underneath the rubble and spoke up.

"I'm sorry. I… I never wanted you to get hurt. I never wanted any of you to get hurt."

Krillin couldn't hear all the words spoken, but he understood enough; the clone was hurt by whoever it was that was dead. By now Videl and her blond friend had stood up, looking at the clone in surprise, but they were ignored a bit longer. Tears were still streaming down the other girl's face, and Videl also had tearstains on her face, but now shock was the prominent feature on her face.

"What are you?" Videl said, as the clone made another move, most likely closing the dead teen's eyes. "Why do you look like me?"

"I am you." The clone said as she stood up. Before she continued her speaking, however, she vanished into movement. Krillin could clearly see how the clone picked up Videl's blond friend, shoved her into a locker at the end of the wall and smashed the thing close, but to Videl's eyes the two must have simply vanished.

Krillin hadn't interfered because of how the clone had held the girl. It wasn't malicious, or with malcontent. The clone had embraced the blond like an old friend, then lifted her off and put her in the locker without hurting her. The clone wasn't hurting her, but hiding her. Protecting her. Then the clone was back in front of Videl and she continued her sentence.

"I'm cloned out of your DNA, created to be everything you are, only stronger, faster and better. My name is Levid. And I'm sorry to say, you're no longer needed."

Immediately, Levid moved in close, holding Videl up by her neck and squeezed her throat shut. Krillin didn't wait any longer. Rushing into the hallway, He punched Levid in the side, making her drop Videl, and as the clone started to fall from the impact, he followed it up with a kick.

Unable to defend against the short monk's attack, Levid was sent flying through the nearby wall, but Krillin didn't pay a lot of attention to her. Instead, he turned around and looked at Videl. He had saved her in time to protect her from suffocation, but it was possible the clone had snapped her neck.

His worry was unfounded as Videl raised herself to hands and knees, breathing hard, trying to recover. Most of it had been shock – Krillin's intervention had been too fast for Levid to really act, it seemed – but the girl would still need a few seconds.

And seconds lasted a _long_ time when fighting at the speed of light.

Levid burst out of the floor just below Krillin, her fist flying in an uppercut aimed at his chin, but the seasoned warrior took a step back to evade and immediately counterattacked. His fist merely passed through Levid's abdominal area, leaving her unharmed, before the girl became solid again and slammed her elbow into Krillin's face.

Falling back from the blow, Krillin lashed out with his leg, but Levid barely managed to block the attack. Flipping over, Krillin recovered and immediately charged at the long-haired girl. Her fist came flying for his face, but he raised his hand to block it and immediately raised his own fist to counterattack. Levid's fist passed through Krillin's arm before becoming corporeal again and hitting him in the temple. The blow distorted the monk's attack, sending him reeling to the side, and Levid immediately followed up on her advantage.

The girl engaged Krillin in close combat, but only now did Krillin really understand the effect of her ability; all his attacks were void, because she simply became incorporeal before they hit, and all of his defenses were useless, because Levid could simply pass right through them before solidifying herself and striking him anyway.

XxX

In another part of the city, Yamcha and Tien were fighting against the Bulma clone and, for once, their efforts weren't in vain. Between the two of them, they kept maneuvering towards the clone's back, attacking her past her defenses. Unfortunately, the clone was stronger then either fighter individually, so their strategy was not without it's risks.

Nothing remained of Yamcha's clothing above the waist, courtesy of one of the clone's stronger attacks, while Tien was missing one of the legs of his pants and was covered in small cuts and bruises all over. Their damage was small compared to what they had inflicted upon the clone so far though.

The sleeves of the clone's clothing had been destroyed and a large amount of her hair had been burnt away by their various energy attacks. She looked worse then the real Bulma ever had, even during her worst adventures.

"We'll have to keep this up." Tien informed Yamcha as they quickly made their way through the city, hot on the clone's heels as she tried to flee for a breather. "Try to drive her into a corner somewhere, I'll go the other way around and trap her."

Yamcha nodded, still keeping up the pursuit, while Tien swerved off, flying inbetween buildings. Before the clone could look around to see if both human warriors were still there, Yamcha raised both his hand forward and started launching energy blasts at the fleeing woman.

None of the attacks actually hit her, since the clone moved to the side enough to evade them, but that wasn't the purpose. Yamcha had to distract her from locating Tien's absence; otherwise this latest ambush would end up in a failure.

But the distraction was enough as Tien crashed into the clone from the side, smashing her into a building with a vicious combination attack. Yamcha was upon the pair an instant later, joining his bald friend in bringing down the pain on the clone.

Desperate the get the two more experienced fighters off her, the clone let out a wide-area blast of energy, but the two human warriors backed up before each firing an energy blast in, forcing the clone to stay where she was as the building literally came down on her.

Floating above the rubble, Yamcha and Tien began to regain their breath and energy, waiting for the clone to burst out. They could both still sense her energy from below the mess. Just as they both raised their hand, ready to flush the long-haired clone out with an explosion, the rubble below exploded as a hundred Bulmas shot up into the sky.

"Oh great, this again," Tien sounded more annoyed then intimidated by the multitude of enemies as he raised his hands to his face. "Solar Flare!"

The bright flash of light stunned all of the images of the clones, dispelling many of them now that a new source of light had appeared. While the clones were still blinded, Yamcha quickly created two fist-sized Spirit Ball attacks and sent them flying through the remaining images of the clones. Those that the ball simply passed through were ignored, since they were nothing but images created by the real clone, but there was one clone that did get hurt by the attack.

"That's her!" Yamcha announced as he brought the two attacks together, smashing into her before they exploded.

"Dodonpa!" Tien cried, all his fingers extended and glowing with energy. As Yamcha's Double Spirit Ball's explosion died down, the ten golden rays of energy found the clone. A second explosion followed upon the first, keeping the clone out of sight even longer.

Without warning, a multitude of light beams suddenly erupted from the center of the explosion, shooting out in all directions at once.

"Looks like she's still kicking." Tien said as he barely managed to evade one of the lasers. The explosion died down, revealing a heavily injured Bulma clone, but before either fighter could close in to finish the fight, more and more of the lasers appeared, some aimed at the fighters, others appearing at seemingly random positions, destroying most of the remaining rubble.

"At this rate we won't have anywhere to take cover." Yamcha commented. "We need something to block her ability to manipulate light."

As both Yamcha and Tien kept flying around, dodging the lasers that the clone made appear out of seemingly thin air, they kept their eyes open.

"Yamcha, over there!" Tien yelled. He pointed towards a mostly intact building that had been knocked sideways sometime earlier. A skyscraper at least fifty floors. However, the momentary lack of movement cost the tri-clops. One of the lasers that was still being fired in all directions made contact with his foot and managed to burn right through.

"I got it." Yamcha sped past Tien as the bald man flipped over and tried to recover. The beam had moved straight through his foot, but it had immediately burned the injury close as well. No bones, muscle or nerve remained in the area that had been hit.

"Hurry up, even just one of these things will be enough to kill us." Tien said as he ducked underneath yet another beam. "Dodonpa!"

The golden beam from Tien's finger made contact with the laser, but both beams seemed to ignore each other as they just kept moving. The energy and light were too different to affect each other. Both Tien and Bulma's clone jumped to the side, evading the attacks. Now, however, it seemed like the clone was recovering from her earlier damage. The beams were becoming less random and more focused on Tien.

Without a second thought, Tien turned around and started to flee from the clone, waving in between energy attacks and lasers as he did so. Turning around a corner, Tien hid inside the remains of a building, quickly catching his breath. As he did so he felt a large spike of energy and saw the explosion that was the result of the battle that was raging on in another part of the city.

'_Damnit, I left Chiaotzu near there!_' The bald warrior's mind was on his charge and best friend only for a second, before it was forcefully returned to the battlefield he was on. The building he was hiding in was suddenly flooded with light as the clone destroyed it with a blast of energy.

Out-flying the explosion, Tien appeared in the air again, breathing hard but ready to go on. The clone was floating a short distance away, covered in her own blood but looking satisfied that she had the tri-clops on the run. A moment later, her smirk was replaced by a look of confusion as she was covered in a massive shadow. As the clone turned around, Tien could see her eyes go large with wonder.

Floating far above the other two was Yamcha, holding the skyscraper Tien had pointed out earlier above him with two hands and casting a massive shadow over the battlefield.

"Very nice try." The clone said, her voice sounding smugger than Bulma's had ever sounded. "But I'm afraid it's useless. As long as we can see, that means there's light. And as long as there's light, I can use it."

"Yeah, we figured that out." Yamcha's voice was strained with the effort of lifting the skyscraper, but he still sounded confident. "But what if I do this?"

Drawing one hand back for a second, Yamcha filled his fist with energy and smashed it into the skyscraper. The impact was transferred all along the massive structure, reducing it to a cloud of dust, covering the entire area and slowly falling down.

The shadow cast by the cloud was much deeper, blocking out more light, but the clone simply laughed at Yamcha's efforts.

"It's no use. No matter how small you make that building, or how deep you layer it's dust. It'll never block out the sunlight completely. I will still have light to work with."

"It was never meant to block out the sunlight." Tien's voice was loud, clear and confidant as he spoke to the clone. "It was meant to draw your attention! Neo Tri-Beam Cannon!"

As the clone had watched Yamcha's efforts, Tien had gathered his energy and prepared his strongest attack, one he now launched at the clone. Looking at her through the triangle created by his hands, Tien launched the majority of his energy at her. Up in the sky, Yamcha also gathered most of his energy into his own attack.

"No!" The clone cried out as the Neo Tri-Beam Cannon's attack hit her, her arms crossed in an attempt to block it.

"Kamehameha!" Yamcha cried from the air, striking the clone of his old girlfriend in the back. The combination of the two techniques was too much for the clone to handle. As the two blasts overpowered her defenses, Ropa had no escape. The following explosion completely disintegrated her.

XxX

On another part of the city, far removed from all the other battles going on, Vegeta and Furuti were once again having a furious battle. Golden flames of pure, raw energy were surrounding their bodies, combining and clashing every time the two Super Saiyans clashed.

'_He must have been doing more training then I'd have thought, he's on par with my power again._' Furuti thought as he ducked underneath one of Vegeta's high-kicks, immediately raising his fist for a counterattack.

Vegeta's other knee knocked Furuti's arm to the side, allowing the original prince to follow up with an energy blast into his clone's undefended side. Furuti had already disappeared from sight, re-appearing behind Vegeta, aiming for his temple. The blast, now without a target, moved on to destroy an entire city block. Like his clone before, Vegeta disappeared from sight, evading Furuti's strike, before reappearing some thirty foot away, his hands already cupped.

Furuti immediately copied Vegeta's stance, both shooting a blast of energy at the same time, causing an explosion, but both fighters were already moving to the side, keeping a perfect pace with each other.

"Gaargh, take this you damn imitation!" Vegeta growled as he let out a barrage of blasts, but Furuti returned the gesture in kind, the blasts colliding in the center, exploding while the two Pureblood Saiyans were already out of reach. As Vegeta fired yet another ball of energy, Furuti decided another tactic was in order. Instead of returning fire, Furuti ducked low, evading the blast and instead closing in on his original.

Explosions blossomed to life behind him as Vegeta saw the change in plan, but Furuti was too fast. Holding orbs of energy in each of his hands, Vegeta was left without a defense to stop Furuti's physical assault. Sending his fists flying, the clone attacked his original with speed and precision, each attack landing on the most painful places possible. Temple, jaw, cheek, collarbone, ribs, neck, and every area that could be hurt by Furuti's fist was struck before Vegeta could blast Furuti away with his energy.

Creating a barrier of his own energy, Furuti escaped harm from Vegeta's energy wave, but was still pushed back. Looking back at his original, Furuti was pleased to see that his attacks left very little damage; a small trickle of blood flowed from Vegeta's mouth, but no other injuries were shown. As he would have expected from himself.

"I'm done playing around with you, Clone." Vegeta announced as he wiped the blood from his mouth. An instant later he was glowing in golden-and-purple energy, his hands cupped at his side on shoulder-height.

"GALLIC GUN!"

Furuti didn't even try to block the attack, instead welcoming it with open arms, allowing it to strike him, hurt him, and devour parts of him. When the glare of the energy lowered, Furuti could see into Vegeta's eyes again, see the shock and amazement on his face for such a foolish action.

And then the familiar ache began to spread across Furuti's body as his healing ability activated. More shock, then remembrance and anger at his own mistake showed on Vegeta's face. No doubt he was already berating himself on his lack of cool judgment, forgetting the healing.

But even that didn't last longer than an instant. Immediately afterwards, Vegeta began to roar as his energy skyrocketed, electricity appearing around him as he ascended to the second level of being a Super Saiyan. The increase in power would be substantial, but Furuti didn't allow Vegeta to complete his transformation.

Still half-healed, Furuti appeared before Vegeta and punched him with all his might. Thanks to his Saiyan genes' strengthening ability when healed, the punch was much stronger then anything Vegeta could take. The Prince of All Saiyans, struck without any guard up, smashed straight into the ground, impacting so hard that the surrounding five city blocks were all destroyed in the creation of a crater as wide as it was deep.

XxX

"You killed Mister Piccolo!" Goten yelled as he charged towards the Trunks clone again.

'_Damn, doesn't this kid learn?_' #18 thought with annoyance. The two boys had entered the fight – against explicit orders to stay out of any real fighting – some minutes ago and had dealt heavy damage to the clone with their surprise attack. Since then, however, they kept blindly charging at him one at a time.

Goten lashed out with his fist, but the clone swayed to the side and brought up his knee to counter. Goten blocked the knee with his other arm and tried to kick the clone instead, but before the little man could complete his strike the clone punched him in the back, sending the kid flying. The clone was hot on his heels, but #18 jumped in front of the pre-teen and launched a barrage of energy blasts at the clone.

'_Damn these kids._' She thought as she lowered her arms. The clone had already recovered from the damage Goten and Trunks had inflicted on it, now both it's arms were dark metal up to his elbows, his legs were transformed up to his elbow and most of his hair had changed color as well, now grey-black instead of gold. '_I have to protect their idiot asses all the time. I could fight this guy one-on-one, but not with babysitting the two of them._'

Trunks, at least, had the sense to attack his clone from behind, but the surprise-effect was rendered void by his loud war cry. The eight-year old smashed right into his clone's back, but passed right through as the clone's abdomen transformed into mercury, then solidified into spikes and shot out at the boy's unprotected back.

"Damn!" #18 yelled as she rushed forward, pushing Trunks aside and smashing the metal pikes with a backhand. The pure silver metal transformed back into water and flew back into the clone's body, reforming his abdomen.

"Not bad, I can see why Dad said I had to be careful of you Miss Eighteen." The clone smiled, but #18 didn't respond. "I'm Tapara, and I'll be the one to kill you. See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya."

Tapara cupped his hands forward and released a powerful energy blast, but #18 had no chance to evade it. Instead she caught the blast with both hands, stopping it from exploding but being pushed back by it. Her rescue came in the form of Goten and Trunks, both smashing into the clone at the same time and sending him flying. Surprised at the effectiveness of their joined attack, the two paused to high-five each other while grinning.

#18 pushed the energy balls into orbit, where they would explode without causing death or destruction, and quickly moved over to the boys.

"Don't celebrate, he's coming back." She warned, but already a mass of energy attacks were closing in on them. The three fighters phased into movement, evading all blasts, but still being separated while doing so. Tapara rushed in, his hands transforming into swords as he closed in on Goten. The child barely managed to duck underneath the first swipe, but soon mixed with Tapara's rhythm rather well. He was pushed back and unable to counterattack, but despite Tapara's shapeshifting, Goten managed to avoid getting injured.

Both Trunks and #18, seeing Goten managing to hold his own, didn't interfere. Instead they gathered their energy in their hands, forming strong attacks. Goten slipped up, getting knocked back by Tapara's hammer-shaped hand and was sent flying. Trunks and #18 attacked.

The attacks hit Tapara before he could protect himself, blasting him into a hundred little pieces that flew everywhere. However, before the pieces could get too far, they suddenly stopped in mid-air, bouncing against an invisible barrier. The barrier rapidly started shrinking, until the mercury was all brought into a single orb, still kept in place.

"Hurry!" A new voice yelled from the ground. "I can't hold him in place long. Attack him now!"

Trunks and Goten immediately gathered their energy and took their stances, preparing to attack, as did #18. She recognized the voice; Chiaotzu had apparently joined their fight and with his psychic abilities, they should have a good advantage. All three attacked at the same time.

"Big Tree Cannon!"

"Kamekameha!"

"Power Blitz!"

The yellow, blue and pink blasts hit the orb at the same time, devouring it in light as a massive explosion destroyed the nearby buildings, creating a massive crater.

"Tien placed me near here." Chiaotzu was breathing heavily as he floated up to the other three. "I was knocked out by the Bulma clone for a minute and when I woke up I saw you guys fighting."

"Good, we could use your help." #18 said, her scanners already busy to check the surrounding area. "I doubt he's finished already."

XxX

Thankfully most of the fighting had already moved far away from the school, meaning that Krillin was in relative safety while fighting Levid. With two civilians so close by, neither fighter risked using energy attacks, instead relying solely on melee combat.

Videl was still near the body Krillin had found her, trying to regain her breath desperately, while Krillin and Levid were exchanging brutal assaults. Krillin was by far the more experienced fighter and there was no real difference in speeds between the two, so the former monk managed to avoid almost all of Levid's attacks.

Of course, with Levid's ability, the same also went for her. Every time Krillin went on the offensive, she became incorporeal and let his attacks phase through her, then struck when Krillin was off-balance by the lack of resistance.

'_I can't attack after she finishes attacking._' Krillin thought as he sidestepped another punch aimed at his head. '_Thanks to her ability, there's no opening even after she tries to return to her stance. Maybe if I attack her at the same time that she strikes me. A dual exchange!_'

Levid lashed out with a kick, which Krillin evaded by ducking underneath it, then whipped her other leg around and kicked again, flipped over and rushed at Krillin with her fist raised. Krillin perform a backflip to evade the second kick and met Levid's rush head on. He was just a step further in then Levid, allowing his fist to strike her straight in the face, while he parried her attack with his other arm.

This time his attack did hit the girl and her head shot back at the force of Krillin's punch. Krillin, following decades of training, followed up on his advantage by striking the clone in the stomach, doubling her over, and he then aimed a powerful double-kick at her head. With an ordinary person, it would have scrambled their brains, giving Krillin ample time to continue his assault.

With Levid, however, the attack simply phased through her as she became incorporeal once again. Immediately after Krillin had moved through her, the teenaged clone return to being corporeal and elbowed him in the neck, followed by a knee to his liver. With his back turned to her, Krillin could only partially block the knee and was unable to defend himself from the subsequent two-handed energy blast she fired at point-blank range.

The blast pushed the small fighter back, burning him as it did so, but when he was cleared of Levid, Krillin quickly created an energy shield to protect himself, then moved away from the blast. It had hurt him, yes, but he had suffered through much worse.

'_Looks like I have to finish her in one attack._' Krillin thought, trying to come up with a strategy. '_She can change in between my attacks, but she can't change only a part of her body. I have to deal enough damage to cripple her in one strike. Fortunately, I've got just the thing._'

Now all he needed was an opportunity. Hiding behind the rubble scattered throughout the hallway and peeking around it, Krillin saw Levid, blood streaming from her nose, standing near Videl. Videl had recovered and was facing her clone, her fists ready but shaking.

"Why?" Videl's voice was loud and angry. So she wasn't shaking with fear then. "Why did you come to see me so often? Why come to my room and give me advice when all you want is for me to die?"

"You misunderstand Videl." Levid said, her voice hindered a bit by the blood flowing over her mouth but still clear. "I don't want you to die. But unfortunately, you have to. You've given me so much knowledge of myself, if it were up to me I'd keep you alive as long as I live."

"What do you mean; knowledge of yourself?"

"You are me." Levid said, "We have the same experiences, the same emotions, connections, everything is the same up till the moment that we were split, when some of your DNA was used to create me. But your DNA was taken before you were completely ruined. I have no memory of that; I don't know what you felt."

Levid wiped the blood off her face with one hand, but her eyes never left Videl's.

"So, I wondered. What would she do? How will she react? How will she recover? All questions I asked myself, all things I didn't know about myself. And I didn't know about them, because you didn't. You have, until now, never experienced hardship, never dealt with loss or pain or fear. I wanted to know how you'd deal with it, because that is how I would deal with it. But you got stuck in the troubles; you didn't keep your cool and do what you did best. You already lost."

"SHUT UP!" Videl shouted as she charged, but she was simply too slow to take on her clone. Levid almost lazily grabbed her arm, twisted it and threw Videl on the ground.

"No, I won't. You wanted your answer and you'll have it. You should at least know the truth, don't you agree. After all, we both worked so hard for you to find it. When I saw that you didn't get back on your feet and did your research, I figured it was time for me to intervene. You wouldn't seek help because of your pride, but what if help was offered to you? What if someone forced you to look at all the facts from a different perspective? That's what I did."

Videl was getting back on her feet, moving her arm, but obviously there was no damage done.

"On your own, you got stuck, but with just a little guidance, you got back on your feet and investigated the truth! I saw you change; I saw how you started to glow when you regained hope somewhere that, somehow, Gohan wasn't evil. Thanks to you, I know much about myself now; I know just how strong I really am. Not physically, but mentally. I know that I can overcome any difficulty, any terror, with just a little help. So, I thank you."

"That's it?" Videl's voice was furious, her eyes nearly on fire as she looked at her clone. "You messed with me, toyed with my feelings, just to see how I'd react? Just so I could sate your curiosity! FUCK YOU, YOU BITCH!"

Again Videl charged forward, her fists and legs flying in fast, compact, complex combination attacks. But Levid, moving with superhuman speed, simply blocked every punch that was thrown at her and laughed in Videl's face.

"You're hurt now?" She laughed, flipping Videl over her shoulder with ease. "This is nothing. The real mind-crusher is still coming."

"Stop jabbering!" Videl demanded as she stood up again, though she was breathing hard and painful. Again she charged forward. "Tell me the truth! What the hell are you people! Why are there two Gohans? Why do you look like me? Who the hell are those others?"

"So many questions, this is more like it." Levid still looked amused as she grabbed both of Videl's arms and forced her to her knees. With the clone's iron grip, Videl had no chance of escape and could only look her clone into the eyes.

"I'll tell you, because I still want to see what happens now." Levid smiled, though her eyes were equally on fire to that of her original. "We're clones, the five of us. The real Gohan created clones for an experiment then tried to get rid of them. One survived and decided to get revenge. Gohan's clone, Nahog, did everything he could to ruin Gohan, no matter the casualties. He created all of us so we could fight against Gohan and his friends. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Videl's eyes suddenly went wide as tension left her body, but Levid still didn't let go.

"Gohan never even touched you! Nahog did everything you thought Gohan did. Nahog nearly killed your father, Nahog haunted your nightmares. Gohan did everything he could to make things right, even if it meant he had to ridicule himself, hide himself form you behind a stupid mask."

"NO!" Levid did let go as realization hit Videl in full force. "It… it can't be…"

"It is." Levid pulled back her fist then punched Videl straight in the abdomen. As the punch connected, Videl was lifted off her feet and sent flying, straight into and through the nearby wall. Standing there, having just finished her attack, Krillin made his move.

"DESTRUCTO DISC!" Levid looked at the source of the sound, but she was a split second too late with becoming incorporeal; even as Krillin's trademark attack moved harmlessly through Levid's chest, her right arm fell to the ground, cut off just below the shoulder.

"YOU!" Levid cried in pure rage, immediately charging at Krillin despite the loss of her arm. She was upon Krillin instantly, her remaining hand and both her feet flying at him in blinding attacks, Energy attacks shooting from her hand with any opening she got.

Krillin didn't return the offensive, instead keeping his calm while Levid rained her attacks down on him. Anger made her stronger, yes, but it made her predictable. After taking a couple of hits – none of which were critical – Krillin managed to read her pattern enough to avoid her other attacks. Still, the viciousness of Levid's attacks, even with her missing one hand, didn't give Krillin a chance to counterattack.

Finally, ducking underneath a blast of energy that destroyed the classroom behind him, Krillin created a barrier of energy around him and used that to disrupt Levid's rain of attacks. With her kick blocked so high, Levid couldn't draw it back before Krillin move in to strike.

He struck her in the stomach, sending her flying, but Levid flipped herself over, landed on a wall and pushed off. The wall was broken to pieces by the force of the impact, but Levid came flying at Krillin again, energy attack at the ready. Krillin, instead of fighting fire with fire, caught the ball of energy in an open hand, stabilizing it and held it between the two of them.

"DIE!" Levid yelled, now in near hysterics, as she pushed against Krillin. Still, the smaller man kept the explosive orb between them, preventing it from exploding. After some more pushing back and forth, Krillin struck Levid in the stomach with his other hand, doubling her over and making her lose control of the attack. Using that small opening, Krillin pushed the energy attack up, sending it flying into the stratosphere.

Levid quickly recovered and while Krillin was pushing her attack away, attacked with another blast, this one striking the black-haired fighter and devouring him again. As she let go of the blast, however, Levid crashed to her knees.

"What?" her panic increased, but now her voice was clearer then before. "What's going on?"

Raising her arm, Levid was that she was drenched in sweat. "But how? I'm not… I don't feel tired, how can I?"

Levid tried to push herself up with her arm, but her muscles wouldn't listen to her. "What the hell? What's going on? Why can't I move?"

"I guess…" Videl's voice sounded from just behind Levid. Turning her head, the clone saw Videl standing next to her. The crime fighter was limping and held one arm like it was badly hurt not to mention that she was covered in cuts and bruises, but her eyes… Videl's eyes were remarkably clear. "That… even with all your little… games… you still… didn't know anything… about your body… you bitch."

Levid managed to raise herself partially, the sweat streaming down her body, but Videl didn't let her get up again. Standing on her injured leg, Videl lashed out with her good leg and hit Levid straight in the neck. Levid's muscles, no longer tensed up because of her exhaustion, didn't do anything to stop the kick. As Levid's head snapped back, the rest of her body followed, sending her falling on her side, her arm under her body.

Overbalanced, Videl also fell down on her side, lying next to her clone, who had trouble breathing now.

"It's the source of your energy." Krillin said as he walked back in through the hole he had created earlier. "Gohan explained it to me. Your energy isn't natural to your body, but it's still there, causing strange reactions. Normally, energy is a part of your body, bonded to it and held in check. Normally, your brain and body won't let you use vital energy to continue fighting. In your case, however, the energy you used wasn't replenished in time and was drained from vital systems. Your brain, however, isn't used to these signals because it's never seen them and doesn't know how to interpret them. You exhaust yourself to death, but still think you're fine. You're about to kill yourself from over exhaustion."

"No!" Levid managed to croak out, but she was nearly suffocating already. Krillin looked at the real Videl for a second then turned back to Levid.

"Goodbye. May you find peace in the next world."

With that, he raised one hand and blasted Levid in the chest, destroying her heart. She died instantly.

XxX

As the entire city was falling to pieces under the violence of the vicious battles, Gohan and Nahog were ignorant of anything but each other. Both consumed by their mutual anger and hatred for each other, they fought with an intensity that they hadn't experienced since Gohan had fought Cell. Feelings ran high between them, but not a word was exchanged.

By some mutual agreement between the two, they had moved their fight as far from the others away as was possible. Vegeta and his clone were fighting on the northern end of the city, Krillin was still in the western corner, fighting within Orange Star High, Tien and Yamcha were facing Bulma's clone in the south-western corner of the city and finally, Gohan could feel Goten and Trunks fighting against Trunks' clone in the eastern parts of the city. He had no way of knowing where #18 was, but he didn't care either.

Their fight had been moved to the southern end of the city, as far from the others as they could while still staying within the city. Both fighters were reluctant to actually leave the city, because it would rob them of the only cover they had. Once they were out on the open plains, their fight would become nothing but a slugfest. In the city, they each tried to gain a strategic advantage, using the cover the buildings provided to strike unnoticed.

The two clashed again, fist meeting fist, and the impact created was so powerful that all the nearby windows and other glass shattered instantly. Neither fighter noticed it, ignoring the rain of glass as they kept attacking each other over and over again. A right punch blocked by a left block. Right knees that collided, canceling each other out, followed by clashing left high kicks. As their feet were locked together like that, both Gohan and Nahog launched a small blast of energy, creating an explosion that wasn't as much damaging as it was blinding.

Gohan was floating behind a building, hidden out of sight, when he attempted to formulate a strategy. So far, the fight had been perfectly equal. Both fighters were on the highest level of the Super Saiyan transformation, electricity sparking to life around them, and they fought identically.

'_He's probably around another building, catching his breath as well._' Gohan thought. '_I have to find him first._'

Striking without at least a basic plan in place wasn't something Gohan would usually do, but that was exactly why he did it. Nahog would expect him to act like he always did. By acting in ways he normally wouldn't, he'd catch his clone by surprise.

Gohan flew high above the city, allowing him to see past the buildings without moving in between them. He was too far to see Nahog clearly, but all he needed was a single movement. Somewhere to the side, he could see Yamcha lifting up a building, but Gohan didn't pay that any attention. He needed to find Nahog.

'_There!_' Gohan didn't hesitate for a second, charging down at the movement. Nahog was hiding behind a building, looking around but not above for Gohan's assault. Not announcing his presence until the last second, Gohan hid Nahog with a strong kick in the face, then followed it up with two more kicks from the same leg, changed legs and finally finished by striking both hands at Nahog, sending him flying through the next three buildings before crashing into the concrete road.

Gohan closed in, but Nahog pulled out a massive piece of concrete with one hand and smashed it into the charging warrior, stunning him. Nahog followed it up with a hook then laid down the pain of his own attacks. Finally, after taking several painful hits, Gohan managed to block Nahog's punch and captured his hand, then attacked himself. Nahog grabbed his hand as well, both standing with locked hands and charging power.

Dust rose from the ground as the two half-Saiyans yelled, their golden aura's expanding. Buildings shook on their foundations, the very ground itself split open beneath their feet as the two tried to overpower each other. Suddenly Gohan stepped back, allowing Nahog to overpower him, before flipping him over and smashing him into a nearby building. Another unexpected move, something that Gohan had heard about but never used before.

Nahog fired a blast of energy blindly at Gohan's location, but Gohan had already moved, shooting in between buildings to evade his clone's vision. Nahog caught on to what Gohan was doing and flew straight through a building, smashing straight into Gohan's stomach and sending him flying back a distance.

Nahog pursued Gohan, until he flew through a building where Gohan hadn't come out again. As Nahog reentered the building Gohan was already waiting for him and greeted him with a strike to the temple. Nahog immediately lashed out with a kick, returning the favor. The building they were in was completely dark, with little to no light coming in from the outside, but it was a small problem for the two. Their transformation was bright enough to allow them to find each other without a problem.

Again they clashed, fists and feet flying and connecting with each, neither fighter striking a hit without taking one in return. Every time they clashed, the shockwaves of the impacts made the building shake dangerously, but only when the two clashed with full-swing punches filled with energy did the foundations finally give in. As the building started to fall in on itself, both fighters flew up, shooting through the various levels of the buildings and attacking each other.

Cupping his hands at his side, Gohan gathered energy, Nahog following his example as they still flew through the building. They were near the top of the building, some light breaking through, when they unleashed their attacks.

"KAMEHAMEHA!" Both teens cried out as they let the blue-and-white beam loose upon each other. At the point-blank range, the two attacks collided and build up into a massive blue-and-white ball of energy before exploding violently, disintegrating every surrounding building.

As the explosion resided Gohan and Nahog floated above the massive crater they had created, devouring the entire southern district of Satan City, both relatively unharmed. Gohan and Nahog each grabbed the remains of their shirt – which was burning from the explosion – and ripped it off, leaving only their pants to identify them with. Burns, cuts, bruises and blood covered them, but both were still more then able to continue fighting.

"**Gohan, listen to me!"** The sudden appearance of Goku's voice shocked both Gohan and Nahog into dropping their stance as they scanned the air around them. Neither found Goku's presence, however, but still their father's voice sounded within their thoughts.

"**King Yemma told me everything that's going on down on Earth, he's made an agreement with the Kais that I should return to Earth and help settle things, but my body hasn't been prepared yet****, so I can't help you out. Instead, King Kai thought of this. Pretty cool, huh?"**

"Dad?" Gohan exclaimed to the air. "That's you? But… what's going on?"

"**King Kai is using his magic powers to allow m****e to talk to you and the ****others;**** you're hearing my voice in your head. Anyway, since I can't help you, King Kai and the other Kais are going to use their magical powers to transfer a technique I know into you, so you will know it as well. It's a technique called fusion****. Two**** people of similar build and power combine into a much stronger single being. If you use it, you'll be able to win this fight!"**

"What? That's amazing!" Gohan exclaimed, "How can we learn it like that?"

"**The four Kais use their magic to transport a portion of my knowledge and skill into you, but it's a strange and inaccurate magic. It'll affect everyone in the area, and you might have a bit of a strange feeling afterward, but you'll learn it. ****Use**** it to fuse with ****Vegeta;**** the two of you combined can take out anything."**

XxX

"Hey Goten, do you hear that as well?" Trunks asked his best friend as he heard the voice talking in his head.

"Yeah Trunks, I hear it. But I don't know who it is. Do you think… Trunks, I think it might be my dad!" Goten replied, getting excited again.

"**Ok, here we go. This won't even take a second guys."** The unknown voice said in their heads. A moment later Trunks felt a strange sensation in the back of his head and without really knowing why, Trunks felt like he knew the technique. A strange number of motions, combined with a simple chant and that was all it took.

"Hey Goten, you feel that?" he asked, a grin splitting his face.

"Oh yeah Trunks, I feel it. It feels strange, but I kinda like it." Goten answered, also grinning.

A small distance away, a mass of dark metal took form and transformed into Tapara. The dark metal had spread even further. Only his face, shoulders, hips and chest were now still the original color, but the cloned half Saiyan didn't pay it any attention. He was back and he looked absolutely furious.

Floating a small distance away, Chiaotzu backed off as he saw the glare aimed at him. Goten and Trunks also noticed the glare, as did #18.

"Hey Goten…" Trunks started, looking his friend in the eye. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I don't know Trunks, I can't hear your thoughts." Goten pouted, but his pout quickly disappeared when Tapara burst into movement. The teenaged clone was moving straight towards Chiaotzu, but #18, Goten and Trunks all jumped before the emperor and forced the metallic warrior to back of with energy blasts.

"No, you dummy." Trunks scolded his friend with a stern look. "I mean, do you also want to try out this fusion technique?"

"Oh yeah, sure! It looks really cool." Goten looked absolutely giddy, but he was interrupted as Tapara shot towards them.

"Like I'd let you!"

#18, however, smashed into him from below, changing his course. Chiaotzu followed it up with a barrage of energy blasts for good measure.

"Go!" The beautiful blond android told the two boys. "Find some equal ground and use that technique. But make sure you try the movements at least once and match your breathing! We'll buy you two the time you need."

Without waiting for further instructions, the two Super Saiyans turned around and flew away in search of a good place for them to fuse.

"And how exactly do you plan on stopping me?" Tapara asked as he reappeared before the two older fighters.

"You'll see." Chiaotzu bravely talked back to the much taller enemy, but his voice was shaking.

"No, I don't think I will." Tapara smirked back at the small monarch then his hand turned to whip and shot out to grab him. "Without your telekinetic powers, they can't hold me. And you're the weakest one here. So sorry, your highness, but you die here."

"SPECIAL BEAM CANNON!" Piccolo's rough voice shouted from below as the yellow beam of energy shot through the metallic whip, freeing the emperor.

"You!" Tapara yelled as Piccolo floated back up from the city, hanging between #18 and Chiaotzu. "I killed you!"

"No, you didn't." Piccolo spoke as calm as always, but he was using his keen senses to keep track of the boys. They had found their safe ground, had practiced the move a couple of times and were now standing next to each other, most likely synchronizing their breath. They needed only a little bit of time. "I'm a Namekian, so long as my brain remains intact, I can regenerate my injuries. Now, let me show you another advantage of being a Namek. HELLZONE GRENADE!"

Piccolo smashed his hands together and instantly a multitude of energy blasts from every direction, hidden inside buildings or behind cover, appeared and smashed into Tapara, bombarding him in waves that covered the entire area in explosions. Piccolo had used his time wisely, setting up a trap for Tapara, while the others had kept the clone busy.

As Tapara was covered in smoke and again attempting to heal his injuries, Piccolo looked over his shoulder to the two pre-teens. He was just in time to see the two young Super Saiyans finish the technique, their extended fingers touching as they finished saying "Fusion-Ha!"

A blinding light erupted from the two boys, but it didn't harm anything as it spread. Tapara, still holding up the energy shield that had protected him from Piccolo's attack, was covered in the light as he absorbed the last strand of metal he needed to recover.

As the light died down, everyone present locked their eyes on the new creation. He was dressed in new clothing, white pants, black boots and a green sash, with a blue open jacket on his upper body. His hair was shorter then Goten's, yet longer then Trunks' and already the gold of the Super Saiyan transformation.

"My name is Gotenks." The fusion announced; his voice was shockingly odd. Gotenks spoke with the voices of both Goten and Trunks at once, rather then a new voice.

"And now that I'm here…" without warning, Gotenks disappeared from where he was standing and reappeared before Tapara. "You're finished." He immediately punched the clone, doubling him over with intense pain, before turning around and kicking Tapara in the face. Tapara's chest transformed into massive metal spikes, but they only phased through Gotenks' afterimage.

"Is that all you got?" The fusion taunted the clone, "You'll never get me with speed like that."

From where they were standing, #18, Piccolo and Chiaotzu were all watching with wide eyes. The power level of the fusion was absolutely incredibly and the speed with which it was moving… Goku wasn't exaggerating when he said this technique was powerful.

Gotenks attacked Tapara again, his fist striking before the taller warrior could transform into liquid, still damaging him despite the clone's special ability. Tapara, now transformed into mercury again, covered the smaller fighter, attempting to suffocate him, but Gotenks escaped with a simple burst of energy, sending the pieces of liquid metal flying everywhere.

"Hey come on, at least make this fun!" Gotenks whined as he saw the pieces of metal spread out. "Don't flee like a coward all the time! Are you a man or not?"

Tapara didn't heed him, instead the pieces spread around to devour more metal and recover the injuries. As soon as Gotenks saw it, he spread his arms out in front of him.

"I don't think so pal." A barrage of blasts shot from the fusions' hands, each striking various buildings and vehicles, destroying them before they could be absorbed. "From now on, no more healing for you."

The mercury gathered together again, floating in front of Gotenks and reformed into Tapara, but now his arms and legs were completely metal-looking, as was most of his face. Only his eyes and nose were still their original color. He didn't move forward to attack again; instead his eyes gained a panicked look.

"Chiaotzu, trap him!" #18 yelled, as she saw the panic spread across Tapara's face. "He can't move the body parts that have turned into pure metal, hold him still before he can transform."

The emperor did so, glowing blue as he held his hands out in front of him. Tapara also glowed the same color, unable to move from that position.

"Now, Gotenks, kill him!" Piccolo yelled.

"Oh please, there's no fun in this." Gotenks whined again. "And don't tell me what to do; I know how I have to fight. Now, let me think… how am I going to finish him off? It needs to be the most awesome and most powerful attack ever created."

"Will you just blast him already!" The Namekian yelled in frustration. "You're worried about the name of the blast that'll kill him? Just get it over with!"

"I've got it!" Gotenks yelled as he raised both hands to shoulder level. "I'll combine the two strongest techniques I know. Now, clone, you meet your end at my ultimate attack! Stand in fear and awe at the fearsome, destroying –"

"JUST DO IT ALREADY!"

"Sheesh Piccolo, you have no sense of style whatsoever. Fine, I'll do it. Big Kamekameha Cannon!"

Gotenks brought his hands together at his chest once, then cupped them at his side and unleashed his attack. A strong, wide beam of blue and white and yellow shot forward and completely devoured the clone. Even as the blast was fired, bits of pieces of Tapara broke off and disintegrated in the beam, until only Tapara's head and chest remained. Gotenks finally allowed the technique to explode, killing his clone.

XxX

Frustration was gripping Vegeta as he continued to fight with his clone; he was already at the maximum of his capacity, having transformed into an ascended Super Saiyan, while the clone was only in a powered up state of the basic transformation. Although Vegeta should have held the advantage, thanks to his higher level of transformation, he was the one struggling to keep up.

His side was hurting from the impact of Furuti's attack after Vegeta had transformed, but it was nothing he couldn't ignore. After a small exchange, Vegeta had figured out the level of energy he had to use to fight against Furuti, but his clone grew stronger with each exchange. It was the opposite of a normal fight, where the opponent was slowly exhausted, and Vegeta began to realize that this was one aspect of fighting that he had never considered to be his downfall. Now that he fought an opponent who didn't get tired, however, Vegeta felt himself getting pushed to his limits.

That was, until Furuti suddenly stopped fighting mid-charge, his fist still raised to attack. Vegeta looked up, surprised, and then extended his senses as well. Kakarot had yelled in their heads a moment ago and Vegeta had learned some strange dance, but he didn't pay it much attention. Neither he nor his clone had stopped fighting while Kakarot spoke.

Now an absolutely massive new energy signature had sprung to life somewhere in the east, far surpassing anything Vegeta had ever sensed.

'_This is the power of that fusion technique? It's incredible!_' Vegeta looked back at his clone, but Furuti was already looking in another direction. Yamcha and Tien were flying off a small distance away, obviously recovering from their own fight. They had defeated Bulma's clone mere seconds before Kakarot had announced his presence.

Vegeta felt a momentary spike or rage at the idea that his wife was killed, but reason kept him in check; it wasn't his wife, it was only a clone.

Furuti didn't have that reasoning. He howled in anger as he realized that his wife had died.

"NO! YOU… I'LL DESTROY YOU, YOU DAMN HUMANS!" He shouted as he rushed towards the human warrior duo. Vegeta moved in time to interfere, striking his clone in the side with a jackhammer-strike, and then turned to face the two humans. They understood the message and disappeared from sight, as Furuti created yet another crater in the ground. There was almost nothing left of the metropolis where the fight had begun.

A city as wide as the eye could see, capable of housing millions, was reduced to smoldering craters in less then ten minutes time.

Just as Furuti flew up out of the rubble, there was another massive blast, pointing away from the two pureblood Saiyans. The fusion of Goten and Trunks – no-one else in that area could have performed the fusion-technique – had destroyed Trunks' clone.

Furuti floated, not moving at all. His eyes were locked on the scene where his son had died, his body almost paralyzed but lightning coursing around it.

'_Oh shit!_' Vegeta realized as he saw the lightning. '_He's transformed to the ascended level! I have to finish him, now!_'

Immediately the Prince gathered all the energy he could, both of his hands thrust out palm-first. A small yellow orb of energy sprang to life, and then grew until it filled both of Vegeta's hands.

"FINAL FLASH!"

The yellow burst of energy shot forward and devoured Furuti, but the clone reacted in the last second, creating a barrier of energy to protect himself.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" The clone's yells were now more then angry, something primal far above rage. Vegeta could understand, somewhere deep inside him. Bulma and Trunks were everything to him, more times then they had known, his family had been the only thing keeping him sane. And now they had been killed in his presence.

When Furuti appeared again, Vegeta wasn't surprised by what he saw; Furuti, most of his lower body and half his arm destroyed, was still floating. Electricity sparked around him as he quickly regenerated his lost limbs. However, Vegeta's attention was solely on his clone's eyes; the pupils had vanished from Furuti's eyes, indicating that he had given in to Saiyan Battle Rage.

'_Damnit, this is a disaster!_' Vegeta thought as he gathered more energy, '_If he's given in to the Rage, he's lost his reasoning; __he'll __be nothing more then a monster bent on destruction. I have to kill him, now!_'

Again Vegeta gathered all his energy, but this time he only spread out one hand, his fingers widespread.

'_I hope this works. If I can destroy his head, that should stop his regenerating._'

"BIG BANG ATTACK!"

As Vegeta launched his attack, Furuti finally began moving again, his wounds half-regenerated. Obviously out of control with his Battle Rage, Furuti moved straight into the Big Bang Attack, not even bothering to block it, and continued on to charge Vegeta. With over half of his body destroyed, the clone still didn't flinch. With his only remaining arm, Furuti backhanded Vegeta. The force of the attack sent the mighty Prince flying, despite being blocked with two hands, straight towards Gohan.

While Furuti was quickly regenerating his wounds, Vegeta was knocked straight into Gohan. The younger warrior had just finished another close battle with Nahog and had backed off when the Prince crashed into him, sending them both crashing into the ground, forming another crater.

As Furuti's body finished regenerating, Vegeta felt fear gripping his heart for the first time since his battle with Frieza. His clone had become an uncontrollable raging berserker and now… he was by far stronger then any other creature in the history of the universe.

XxX

The impact that Gohan and Vegeta made when they crashed into the ground was felt throughout the entire area, feeling like a heavy earthquake. The impact was joined by a massive cloud of dust, but none of the Z-fighters paid attention to that. Furuti, in his rage, let out a massive wave of pure, raw energy. A yellow dome was formed around his body and rapidly expended, devouring the entire city.

The light held on for several minutes, but each of the Z-fighters appeared just outside of the dome. Krillin was holding two dead bodies, a fainted girl and – of all things- an entire locker. Yamcha was flying just beside his shorter friend and shot him a questioning look.

"I didn't know how to open the lock in time." The former monk stated defensively. "And I couldn't just leave them there, these two are still alive and I couldn't leave the other two behind."

Yamcha didn't respond, but looked back into the center of the explosion.

"How the hell are we supposed to fight that? That power level dwarfs even Gohan and Vegeta's!"

"I'll take him on!" Gotenks yelled as he floated a bit above the two humans. "It'll be odd fighting my dad, but at least he should give me a good fight. You take care of the other." without further discussion, the young fusion shot into the explosion protected by a barrier of energy. Nahog appeared a moment later, having escaped to the other end of the explosion. He flew towards Gohan and Vegeta, preparing to finish the job while they were still down.

Krillin moved away from the fighting, dropping off his load before even attempting to fight.

Tien floated next to Piccolo, Chiaotzu and #18 just below them.

"This is terrible." The Tri-clops said as he looked at the explosion. "The fighting was far worse then we'd have thought. There were still thousands of people in the city…"

"We'll revive them once this is all over." Piccolo said, "We'll contact New Namek and use Porunga's powers, but right now we need to focus. Gohan and Vegeta can't defend themselves like that. Let's go!"

The four warriors flew of towards Nahog, Yamcha only a second behind. They couldn't defeat the clone, but they could buy time.

"**Gohan! Vegeta! Listen to me!"** Goku's voice was loud in their minds again. **"You can't defeat this guy alone. You need to fuse! Look just how strong Gotenks is, if the two of you fuse, you can defeat these clones."**

"Buy them time!" Piccolo ordered the other warriors, shooting a barrage of energy attacks at Nahog to interrupt him. "Chiaotzu, check up on them then help us."

The emperor changed course, flying low and fast towards the two Saiyans. They had both fallen out of the transformation, having lost consciousness for a second, but were already waking up.

#18 charged straight at Nahog, but her kick was blocked with ease. Nahog grabbed her leg and spun around, smashing the android into Tien as the tri-clops tried to blindside him. Piccolo closed in that moment, his fist already glowing with energy.

"Explosive Demon Wave!" The blast of energy consumed Nahog completely, but the Ascended Super Saiyan moved through it and grabbed Piccolo's arm. Before Nahog could do more then grab the appendage, however, two balls of pure white energy smashed into his chest and then exploded. Yamcha was a small distance off, already forming new Spirit Balls to attack with.

While the Namek, Android and Humans were fighting Nahog, Gotenks had engaged Furuti in battle. Although the fusion was far stronger then the original Vegeta, he had a lot of trouble keeping up with the clone. Thankfully, Furuti was not able to stay calm and use a good tactic against the younger fighter.

Furuti blindly rushed at Gotenks, but the smaller warrior ducked to the side and kicked his father in the side. Vegeta had always demanded that Trunks fought him with everything he had when they sparred. Anything else was rewarded with pain and ridicule, but if Trunks fought with his full power, Vegeta rewarded him. Thankfully, Gotenks had inherited Trunks' ability to fight against his father.

Gotenks followed the kick up with an uppercut to Furuti's chin, causing the clone's head to snap back, but before Gotenks had pulled in his fist Furuti countered. Doubling up as knee was buried deep in his stomach; Gotenks couldn't block the jackhammer on his back but did stop himself before crashing into the ground. An instant later, Furuti shot through Gotenks' afterimage feet first, before crashing into the ground.

"Take this! My second ultimate attack!" Gotenks boasted as he gathered energy into his hands. "Continuous Die Die Missile!"

A barrage of yellow-white energy blasts shot forth, all aimed at Furuti's general location and exploding on impact. The dome of energy quickly grew in size before ultimately exploding.

"Ha, take that you cheap imposter!" Gotenks taunted, but he grew silent when Furuti burst out of the explosion, small burns already healing as he charged. Gotenks didn't react in time to evade Furuti's punch, taking a direct hit to the face. As he was sent flying back, Gotenks quickly gathered himself, but this time Furuti didn't follow up. Instead he was gathering his energy, arms pointed out in preparation to use Final Flash.

"That can't be good." Gotenks remarked, knowing the power that his father's attack held.

Before Furuti finished charging the attack, however, Krillin appeared a little behind the Saiyan Clone, a Destructo Disc already formed. Furuti noticed the deadly disc of energy and moved his head to the side just in time; instead of cutting his head in two, the disc cut through Furuti's chest and neck. As soon as the disc had cleared Furuti's body, Furuti's two body halves started to regenerate, quickly growing towards each other and re-attaching.

Krillin had looked triumphant for a second then saw that the clone had regenerated the damage almost instantly.

"Uh-oh."

Furuti turned around, now facing his latest attacker, but Gotenks didn't let him off that easily.

"Hey Dad, I'm the one you're fighting. Maybe this'll get your attention." Raising one hand above his head and gathering energy there, Gotenks created another powerful attack. "My newest ultimate attack. Let's see what you think when I give you a Splitting Headache!"

Instead of shooting straight towards Furuti, Gotenks newest attack shot upward, then changed direction and slammed into Furuti from above. The cloned warrior raised his arms in defense, holding the attack, but he was still pushed back. Gotenks kept up the attack, determined to win.

Krillin, on the other hand, wasn't taking an active part in fighting Furuti for the moment. He knew he was outclassed and his trump cart had just failed him, so instead of blindly fighting a stronger enemy, he watched the fight and thought.

'_That's odd._' The small warrior realized as he looked at Furuti. After all the attacks he had suffered, the man was nearly naked while fighting, but it was his skin that caught Krillin's attention. '_Vegeta's skin isn't that wrinkly or pale. If I didn't know any better… I'd say I'm looking at an old man._'

With an effort, Furuti pushed back Gotenks' Splitting Headache and redirected it to the boy.

"Hey wait, what're you doing!" The fusion yelled in a panic. "You're supposed to attack him, not me!" Gotenks caught the attack with both hands, intending to direct it somewhere else as well, but Furuti appeared behind him and planted his knee in the boy's back. Without resistance to hold it back, Gotenks' attack exploded, devouring both Saiyans in the blast.

Nahog, meanwhile, was still fighting against the small group of warrior and he was quickly getting annoyed. Neither of the four fighters he was up against were anything even close to a threat to him, but whenever one engaged him, the others distracted him. And with Yamcha's Spirit Ball, Tien's Solar Flare and Piccolo's ability to lengthen his limbs, they kept avoiding his counters.

Nahog ducked underneath another of Piccolo's punches, but the Namek had extended his arm, making Nahog's counter useless. Tien, #18 and Yamcha all charged at once, but when Nahog tried to turn around to face them, he was frozen in place. Chiaotzu had returned and used his psychic powers to freeze him place.

The three punches all hit him, but only #18's punch managed to hurt the half Saiyan.

As Gotenks' attack exploded behind him, Nahog had had enough of the bug bites these five were giving him. He let out a cry as he released his energy all around him, overpowering Chiaotzu's pathetic psychic barrier and blasting away all five warriors fighting him. As he released the energy and the explosion behind him died down, Nahog saw all the Z-fighters crash into the ground. Krillin had been caught between the two explosions and knocked down as well.

Just as he looked at the fallen warriors, though, Nahog was nearly knocked back as a massive dome of golden-white light erupted behind him.

"NO!" Nahog span around and cursed as the light expanded. Gohan and Vegeta had fused. Gotenks had already displayed incredible powers, although he was born of the weak Goten and Trunks. If the far more powerful Gohan and Vegeta fused... and all Nahog could do was hope that Furuti was strong enough to fight the fusion. Although they had also learned the technique when Goku had sent it to them, the difference between their power made the fusion impossible for them.

If Furuti couldn't fight the fusion, then everything was over.

XxX

As they emerged from the rubble Gohan and Vegeta had dropped out of their Super Saiyan transformations. Ahead, Nahog was charged by Piccolo, Yamcha, Tien and #18, but Gohan couldn't stand up to join the fight. When he tried to stand, he had trouble supporting his weight on his left leg. Looking down, Gohan saw why; his ankle had been twisted badly by his crash, possibly even broken. Of course, that was only one injury.

Next to Gohan, Vegeta stood up and visibly favored his left side. Gohan wouldn't be surprised if there had been cracked or broken ribs, but the Saiyan Prince showed nothing to indicate he was in pain. For all that Gohan knew, the prince could have major internal bleedings, but he would never show it. Pain was a constant, something that belonged in battle, just like fear. It existed and you accepted it, or you were overcome by it. That was how Piccolo had always explained it to his young pupil.

They had heard Goku's message, telling the two of them to fuse, but Gohan was feeling doubts. Goten and Trunks had fused, yes, and they had become much stronger. In fact, their fusion was strong enough to fight against the Vegeta clone one-on-one!

'_Nahog is my enemy!_' Gohan thought to himself, anger his dominating emotion when he thought of his clone. '_I'll kill him with my own hands! Vegeta, of all people, should understand that._'

Chiaotzu landed near the two of them then spoke quickly.

"Tell me if there's something that's stopping your movements." The small emperor piped up. "I can use my psychic powers to support parts of your body while you fuse. You'll be able to perform the dance while we buy you time."

"Forget it." Gohan immediately returned. "I'm not fusing with anyone, not until I've killed Nahog! No-one's going to take that from me."

"The Brat has hurt his left ankle." Vegeta told the puppet-like man. "And I have broken ribs on my left side, along with a broken right kneecap. Fix that and we'll get to fusing"

Even as he spoke, Vegeta didn't take his eyes off the fights above. His eyes flickered between the two fights, his expression and voice surprisingly calm.

"No!" Gohan turned to face the Saiyan Prince. How could he not understand? This was personal, Gohan was the one who had to fight Nahog, had to kill him. "I told you, I'm not fusing with anyone, Nahog is mine."

Vegeta's fist struck him without warning, knocking Gohan on his ass again. His back turned to the battles above, the Prince looked at the eldest half-breed with fury in his eyes, his raised fist shaking.

"Listen here Brat." He announced. "There's more at stack here then just your revenge! Look at those fights and tell me what you see. I see warriors, fighting for their lives. I see warriors take on enemies far stronger then them, just so we can have the time to do this. I see my son and your brother fighting against the strongest creature ever to exist, risking their very lives so we can do this."

In the fights above, Gotenks created a large ball of energy and somehow made it crash into the Vegeta Clone from above. The clone caught the attack, however, and began pushing it back. On the other end, Piccolo intervened as #18 was nearly caught in a headlock by Nahog.

"You want your revenge, but it's blinding you. These warriors are risking their lives for us; my son and your brother are risking everything. Now is not the time for your brainless vendetta, now is the time for us to arise. The time for us to show that we are Saiyans; worthy of the title of warrior. And the only way to do that is to do our duty in this battle. And right now, our duty is to fuse. So get off of your ass and let's do this."

Gohan looked back up, just in time to see that Gotenks' attack turn around and nearly explode on it's master.

'_Vegeta's right._' Gohan realized, his eyes now darting over to the other fight. Tien blinded Nahog with a Solar Flare, just as the clone was about to crush Yamcha with a bear hug. '_I am blinded. And it's up to us to save everyone._'

"Alright." Gohan agreed as he stood up. Chiaotzu pointed his tiny fingers and a blue glow covered Gohan's ankle and Vegeta's knee and left side.

"It'll only hold for a few seconds, so hurry up."

"Let's go Brat." Vegeta ordered as he got into position. Gohan mirrored him at six paces distance, both breathing deep and steady. As if they had known the technique for years and practiced it daily, the two veteran warriors shuffled closer to each other, their arms swinging.

"Fu-"

Their arms switched direction quickly as both fighters stood on one leg, the other knee bend.

"-sion"

Up in the sky, both battles had taken a turn for the worst. All the remaining Z-fighters fell down at once, thanks to two explosions of energy. Gohan and Vegeta didn't allow it to break their concentration. Again they moved in perfect symmetry, extending their bend leg and both arms, their fingers touching.

"Ha!"

As soon as the fingertips touched, blinding white light erupted from them, devouring the entire area. Gohan immediately felt himself changing, becoming one with Vegeta, their bodies and minds joining together.

As the light faded, a new warrior stood in the place where Gohan and Vegeta had been. None of the injuries of the fusees had transferred to the new form, allowing him to enter the fight with perfect health. Like Gotenks, the fusion was dressed in white pants, black boots and a black jacket. The only differences were the colors of the sash and padding on the jacket. The new fusion's sash was blue instead of green and the padding was orange.

The new fusion had Vegeta's widow peak and jawline, but Gohan's face and hairstyle, though lacking the two floating locks of hair.

"My name is Vehan." Gohan and Vegeta's voices mixed as the fusion spoke. "And this fight is over!"

Clenching his fists at his side, Vehan immediately powered up to Super Saiyan and seemed to vanish from sight, even for the other Z-fighters. A moment later Nahog also seemed to disappear, followed by Furuti. Down on the ground, the Z-fighters passed out on the spot.

Vehan had grabbed both Furuti and Nahog, holding each in one hand as he flew. Nahog had been too stunned to fight back and Furuti still hadn't returned to sensible thought, so neither managed to struggle until Vehan stopped. The three of them were now flying above the ocean, water as far as the eye could see and not a living creature nearby.

"Are you too much of a coward to fight me on your own Gohan?" Nahog yelled at the fusion, his own anger sparking. "You have to cower behind Vegeta now?"

Nahog was immediately shut up when Vehan planted his fist in the half-Saiyan's stomach, then almost casually elbowed him in the back. Nahog was immediately launched into the ocean.

Furuti chose that moment to attack in his blind rage, but all he hit was Vehan's afterimage. The fusion appeared behind the clone and kicked him in the back, then appeared before him with an uppercut. Disappearing again Vehan backhanded Furuti into the ocean. Unlike Nahog, however, Furuti had put up a defense and managed to stop himself before he fell into the water.

As soon as he came to a stop, Furuti launched an energy ball at Vehan then closed the distance to fight up close again. Vehan deflected the energy attack with one hand then started dodging all of Furuti's attacks.

"It's useless." Vehan announced as he stopped Furuti's attacks with a kick to the clone's side. "I know all of your moves and how to counter them. I know everything you know. You can't defeat me."

Furuti was still frozen in place from the kick as Vehan opened his hand and blasted the clone in the chest. As the smoke cleared, the clone was revealed; his chest was burned badly, but already healing. Again Furuti rushed forward, ignoring his chest's injury.

This time he was quick enough to strike the fusion in the face, but Vehan simply moved with the blow, bending backwards, and kneed Furuti in the still-healing wound on his chest. Furuti backed down, howling in pain.

"Looks like you're finally learning. Maybe this will help." Vehan placed his two hands together, fingers touching, over his chest. A yellow orb of energy appeared, sparkling with electricity.

"A combination technique I've created especially for you. Masenko Flash."

As the yellow wave of energy shot forward, Nahog reappeared out of the water, then saw the attack coming and created a shield of energy. When the light of the energy-ray died down, Nahog was nowhere to be seen. Furuti had remained, though most of his body had been destroyed. Only his head, neck and part of his chest still remained.

And again, the regeneration was already healing the Saiyan. As Vehan looked at the clone, he saw that Furuti's eyes had returned. The pain of the last attacks had snapped the clone out of his battle fury.

"Tell me, clone," Vehan said, Vegeta's personality obvious as he talked with his double voice, "do you remember why it is that we Saiyans train instead of simply blasting ourselves all the time?"

Furuti looked up, clearly relishing the feeling of power as his energy levels skyrocketed. Even with his legs still regenerating, the clone attacked the fusion.

Before Furuti had drawn his fist back to strike, however, he was already past Vehan.

"What?" Furuti's voice cracked as he spoke.

"It's because when our power boosts by healing, we can't control our bodies. Normally, that isn't a problem, because the increase needs to be massive to suffer difficulties." Vehan continued his explanation. "Which is happening in your case. You've regenerated from so many injuries that you're now over ten times as strong as you were before these battles started. But you can't control it. Your body is moving too fast for you. And control is everything in a fight."

This time Vehan rushed forward, his fist raised. Furuti raised his arm to block, but instead nearly smacked himself in the face as the appendage moved faster then he could control. Before he could regain control, Vehan attacked. Furuti got his arm in front of the punch, but that didn't block the punch.

Instead, a loud – snap! – was heard as Furuti's arm broke under the pressure. Furuti looked dumbstruck with surprise for a second, but Vehan didn't let up. He continued his assault, every punch and kick breaking bones. Furuti coughing up a mass of blood, courtesy of pierced lungs, made Vehan back off.

As Furuti floated there, his body again regenerating, he looked at his arms in horror. The bones were visibly snapping back into place, but his skin was now clearly sagging. There were even hairs that were quickly falling down from Furuti's head!

"No!" again his voice croaked, making him sound like an old man instead of a warrior in his prime. "W-what is going on? What's happening to me?"

"You didn't know?" Vehan asked, surprise slipping into his voice. "Guess Nahog held secrets from you then. Your regeneration is incomplete. It's something that I was working on with Bulma. And by 'I' I mean Gohan. The regeneration ages you as much as it would take for the wound to heal naturally. With every injury you've received, you've wasted time of your life. With a Saiyan's enhanced lifespan and regeneration rate, along with the long-lasting youth, that kept up for a long, long time, but you've reached the line. You're an inch away from death by old age now, clone."

Furuti looked up at the fusion, trying to raise his hands, but even more unable to control them, the limbs moved with such speed and force that they got dislocated immediately. Furuti could only howl in pain at the injury, then felt the familiar tingle as that injury healed as well.

"No…" Furuti's voice was now really broken and dry, truly an old man. "Not like this. I deserve a warrior's death!"

"And you'll have it." Vehan said, his arms already glowing with energy. "The time for healing is over, even if you can take this blast, you'll never survive the regeneration."

Vehan placed both his hands forward, palms connected and fingers bent then created a ball of energy that quickly grew in size. White and blue and yellow all mixed together, flashing together into the orb. It started small, then quickly became as large as Vehan's hands, then kept growing. When it was nearly the size of his body, Vehan finally attacked.

"It's time to die. Final Kamehameha!"

* * *

Beta Note: This frigging HUGE chapter has been beta'd by me, Kushin eX.


	24. Chapter 24

Disclaimer: I don't own the DBZ universe, or anything related to it. I'm borrowing them for some harmless fun.

* * *

The group that landed in the garden of Oolong's mansion, nearly an hour after the battle of Satan City had ended, didn't seem like victorious heroes. Based on their battered appearance, they looked more like they had been the losing party, except for the smiles and relief on their faces.

Out of them all, only Piccolo, Goten and Trunks didn't look like hell. Piccolo's regenerative ability had healed most of his injuries, except for some small bruises and cuts, while the two boys had been protected for most of the fight. Fortunately, the injuries that Gotenks had received hadn't been transported over to their bodies once the fusion wore off.

The other was also true; both Gohan and Vegeta were heavily injured, although their fusion had appeared without a scratch and won the battle for them. The humans all had injuries of varying degrees, some with broken bones, but all suffering from burns of various degrees.

Only one person had escaped the battle completely unscratched, but she wasn't a warrior like the others and hadn't fought at all. In fact, Erasa had spent most of the battle inside a school locker, courtesy of Videl's clone, Levid. After Vehan had returned from his fight with the two remaining clones, there had been a quick discussion about what they'd do with the two human Krillin had rescued.

The final decision was clear; they were taking the two girls, along with the bodies of Videl's clone and Sharpener with them to the mansion. While they had waited for the other Z-fighters to recover enough to fly back, Vehan and Piccolo had made some quick scans of the city and managed to save small groups of civilians trapped beneath the rubble. Between the two of them, they had managed to save a couple hundred people, but compared to the losses that had occurred, the rescues were nearly meaningless.

No-one tried to think of that, though, as they landed in the garden and were immediately jumped by their friends and family. Bulma jumped her son, hugging him tight while he tried to fight her off. Marron jumped into her parent's arms as well, while Puar started floating around Yamcha to see how bad his injuries were.

Chichi also hugged her youngest son to her chest, crying and telling him how worried he had been. The Ox King, Dende, Master Roshi, Yajirobi, Korin and Oolong himself were a bit calmer under the circumstances.

They did, however, did a double take as they saw Tien and Piccolo set down their cargo. Two beautiful teenage girls and two very much dead bodies.

"Ok guys, who should I start on?" Dende asked the group, his hands already glowing with healing energy. "You'll all be right as rain in a few minutes."

While Dende started by healing Tien, Gohan stood up and, looking lost in his own world, walked over to Sharpener's corpse. Everyone seemed to follow him with their eyes as he came to a stop, near the body of his best friend.

Sharpener, who had always been ready with a lame joke and some remark about how he was superior. Sharpener, who always called Gohan Nerd-boy, but didn't allow anyone else to tease Gohan. Sharpener, who always chose Gohan first in P.E. Loud, obnoxious Sharpener that did everything he could for his friends.

Gohan's first male friend his own age, an almost-man who had been so welcoming to Gohan, inviting him to many different outings, who had told him how to talk with a girl. Sharpener had given him his first beer ever then helped him when it had almost knocked Gohan off his feet.

A heavy silence filled the garden while Gohan looked at the half-burned body, his fists balled at his sides.

"Bulma, turn off the camera." Gohan's voice was soft, but it could be heard easily. Bulma reached into her pocket and clicked a button.

"Done. It's off." Bulma said, placing her hand on her husband's shoulder. Gohan, hearing the words, immediately crashed to his knees, his entire body shaking.

Videl and Erasa, stunned and awed at everything they were seeing, looked at the scene in worry, until they realized what was going on.

"WHY!" Gohan suddenly shouted, smashing his fist into the ground next to Sharpener's body. "Why'd he have to die? Why did anyone have to die? YOU WANTED ME!"

Everyone was shocked at the outburst, considering how rare Gohan's outbursts were, but no-one could pull their eyes from the scenes. Goten took a step forward, hoping to comfort his brother, but Piccolo stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder. The miniature Goku looked surprised, but all the Namekian did was shake his head, then point to the house.

As Gohan was shaking and let his tears flow, Piccolo guided most of the others to the house. Erasa and Videl, their eyes still locked on the scene, watched until Chichi distracted them by placing a hand on their shoulders.

"Let's get you girls inside; we'll give you something hot to drink and then… I guess it's time we told you everything that's been going on. I'll explain everything that happened to you."

XxX

An explosion rocked through the empty lab, blasting the heavy steel door from it's hinges as Nahog struggled to enter the lab. He was bleeding heavily from his injuries and wasn't able to stand on his own, instead leaning heavily on the wall.

"No." he pushed forward, leaning more on the wall then his own feet. With an effort he moved across the hall, collapsing against another wall. "I can't… I can't… just… die." Nahog reached another sealed door, but he knew this was the room he had to enter. Gathering energy in his hand, Nahog raised his arm and blasted the door. Because of his crude entry, the chamber was a mess, but Nahog couldn't care less.

Whipping the blood out of his eyes again, he stumbled forward then fell on the ground in the chamber for lack of a wall. The pool of blood around him was rapidly expanding, but the cloned teenager still tried to pull himself forward, one inch at a time.

"Can't… give… up." He told himself, though he could hardly talk anymore. His vision was beginning to blacken and he was fighting hard to remain conscious. Passing out now would mean certain death. "Got… to… kill… Gohan."

With a final effort, Nahog managed to reach the cloning tube that had housed Furuti, one of the four tubes in the room. He reached inside the device, pulling out cables with needles attached. His hand shaking badly and his vision blurry, Nahog managed to insert the needle into his arm, but it was far from a perfect shot. At the moment, however, Nahog didn't have time to be picky.

As it was, he would die in a moment unless he managed to start the device. With the needle attached to his arm, Nahog reached out with his other hand, floating above the keypad until he was certain that he hit the correct button.

The cloning tube activated immediately, it's automatic system discovering the critical state Nahog was in and starting emergency medical care. Nahog didn't notice any of it. He had passed out the moment he had pushed the button, sitting in a growing pool of his own blood.

XxX

Two days had passed since the battle of Satan City, two days in which the Z fighters had been recovering. Dende had tended to their injuries, but his healing didn't help against exhaustion or hunger. While the Z fighters had been recovering, Erasa had requested that she be brought back to her family, along with Sharpener's body. Krillin had fulfilled her request, bringing the girl back to her home, so she could make some calls and arrange for Sharpener's funeral.

Levid's body, meanwhile, was kept in a cooling cell nearby. It was the only evidence that cloning was real and, Bulma had reasoned, they needed to have some evidence to support the wild story of clones going evil.

Gohan had called everyone into the living room, leaving the formality of the conference chamber out for once, as everyone set down on much more comfortable chairs and sofas. Everyone present in the mansion had gathered for Gohan's debriefing, save for Videl. She was the only one Gohan hadn't invited; instead, Gohan had been avoiding her like the plague these last two days.

On the battlefield, facing life-threatening, planet-destroying blasts, Gohan didn't fear for a moment, but the thought of meeting with the eighteen year old object of his affection terrified him.

"Well everyone; let me start by thanking everyone for coming and for all the effort you've put into making our plan work." Gohan began, "But unfortunately, I have to tell you that, despite all our planning and preparation, nothing went as planned. The plan has failed in one of the most important aspects."

Goten, Trunks and Marron looked surprised at the statement, though most of the adults nodded.

"The idea behind the camera implant was to convince the world that I wasn't the harbinger of death and destruction they had believed I was, to show them that I was the good guy and Nahog the evil one. That only partially worked. The world knows that there are two Gohans now, but they also think I'm off my rocker. Dad's sudden appearance from Otherworld and me talking to him hasn't set me down as the most stable of persons."

Again, the children raised their eyebrows, so Gohan looked at them and explained.

"The rest of the world didn't hear Dad's words, since they were projected directly into our minds. All they saw and heard was me talking to the air and acting like I got answers too. That makes me psychologically unstable, any expert will tell you. Instead of telling the world I'm it's savior, I showed it that one version of my is a madman and the other is a terrorist. I think we can expect the world to turn it's back on us even more now."

"Yeah, but that's only one problem, isn't it?" Master Roshi was tapping his staff on the ground while he sat, trying not to set his eyes on either Bulma or #18's body. Both would end in much pain for the old lecher. "What about what happened to Satan City?"

"Yeah, that too." Gohan agreed, pacing around the room. "The battle was far more destructive then I had anticipated. I had hoped we could keep it contained in one part of the city, the part that we had cleared, but as you all know the fights escalated beyond our control. Satan City, one of the world's greatest metropolises, has been reduced to a field of death and destruction. Not only that, but the world knows that we are the ones who did it."

"So?" Trunks piped up, Goten nodding besides him. "They know we're the ones who fought the bad guys, we saved them!"

"That's not how the people of Earth will see it." the Ox King interrupted before Gohan could start. "They saw you fight a battle beyond their belief, but there was no denying it was real. What they saw were children like you two, with the power to destroy buildings in the blink of an eye. They saw a small group of people destroy a city, killing hundreds of thousands in the process. Sooner or later, you will be made into the villains here."

"What are we going to do about the dead anyway?" Yamcha had been bothered by the amount of dead people for the past two days, talking about it with almost everyone he met. "It's not like we can use Shenron to wish everyone back over there."

"Why not?" This time the question came from Goten and it was Piccolo who answered him.

"The Dragon balls on Earth can only revive a person once and Orange Star City – as Satan City was called back then – was one of the cities that Cell had drained empty. Everyone who had live in Orange Star City seven years ago can't be revived anymore and that's the vast majority of inhabitants."

"Ooh… phooey."

"So we need another method to revive the people who had died. Piccolo, do you think you can contact New Namek and request the aid of Porunga?" Gohan had stopped his pacing and looked at his mentor.

"If Dende helps me, my telepathy should be increased enough to reach them, but we're not certain if Porunga can revive multiple people. It's been a while since we talked to the other Nameks and last time, we kept the revivals up to a one-person-per-try limit."

"I know, but it can't hurt to ask. If Porunga can't, then we can wish for him to strengthen Shenron and immediately reenergize him. That way, we can revive everyone. But there's something else we have to worry about too. With our master stroke having backfired on us, do you think we can have Porunga alter or erase the memories of the people of earth? Everything related to me and Nahog."

"That should be possible." Piccolo remarked. "I'll let you know once we have contact with New Namek."

"But Gohan, what are you going to use Shenron for?" Chiaotzu was sitting next to Tien, as always, but he was dressed in rather formal attire. He was supposed to leave for a meeting as soon as this was done. "You mention that Puronga has to reenergize Shenron, so you already have a plan for him right? But with everything that happened…"

"Don't worry." Gohan assured him, looking around the room. "That part of the plan is still going on like I told you earlier."

"But with all the clones dead..."

"They're not all dead." Vegeta's first words for the meeting, or for that matter the first words he had spoken to Gohan in two days, were laced with venom. "Our fusion killed my clone, but the brat's copy was only injured. While we continued fighting my clone, Nahog managed to get away."

"By the time you had dealt with your fusion, you still had nearly fifteen minutes left, why didn't you chase after him?"

Vegeta's answer was to give a potent glare at Gohan, who glared right back.

"It was unpractical." Gohan defended himself. "Nahog had escaped while we weren't watching and we had no way of tracking him down."

Eyebrows shot up around the room, though Goten, Trunks, Marron, Puar and Yajirobi seemed to miss the actual meaning of the message.

"Anyway, as I was saying before, the plan with Earth's Dragon Balls is still on. I'm going to summon the dragon tomorrow and make my wishes. After that I-"

Gohan was interrupted, however, by a knock on the door. Looking around, he saw Videl standing in the doorway, the door wide open and her eyes focused on Gohan. Those beautiful blue eyes instantly captured Gohan's black ones, but he almost felt too ashamed to look at her.

While Gohan didn't do anything but stare, Videl broke the silence that had come with her arrival.

"We need to talk."

XxX

Slowly, painfully, Nahog returned to a sense of awareness. It took him nearly twenty minutes before he had regained enough consciousness to try to figure out where he was then another ten to remember what had happened. Finally, most of his senses and brain having returned to him, he looked around the room.

Furuti's cloning tube had injected him with the healing formula, but since the formula had been coded with Furuti's DNA, it had only worked partially. Not only had the recovery taken much, much longer then it would have with Furuti, the healing had been incomplete. Nahog realized that when he tried to stand up and a stab of pain shot through his body. Open wounds had been closed, broken bones mended and the blood he had lost was replaced, but he still had bruises and lots of pain.

Raising himself, Nahog looked at the screens attached to the tube. According to those, his vitals were all within acceptable perimeters, meaning Nahog would only need some time to recover. Perhaps another day or two and he would be fine. Now that he didn't need to be hooked up anymore, Nahog pulled the needle out of his skin and stood up, leaving bits of dried blood everywhere. The pool of his blood had continued for some time while the machine healed him, covering nearly the entire floor in a dark, dry, nearly-black crust.

The feel and smell of his dirty clothes disgusted Nahog, making him want to throw up with every movement, so he ripped them off as he made his way to the bathroom, stalking through the empty halls naked.

When he entered the bathroom Nahog got another large shock, though it explained his constant pain when moving. His entire body was covered in scars and burns, leaving his once envious body a disgusting sight.

Half of his face had been burnt away, leaving a gaping hole in one cheek and heavy burns on the side of his face, covering what had remained of his ear. It looked like someone had taken a chunk off of Nahog's shoulder, leaving a dent there, and a dinosaur could have scraped his claws over Nahog's chest and arms for the same effect. Deep slashes ran over Nahog's chest, covering it from left to right; the wounds had been burned close.

He pulled his eyes away from the mirror, unable to look at his own body any longer.

"Gohan!" The name was spat with a whole new level of venom, "He did this. Because of him, my family is dead. He killed everyone I cared about. Again! I'll kill him. I swear I will fucking kill you GOHAN!" he was yelling to himself, his energy escaping from his body and demolishing the bathroom in an instant. Nahog hardly noticed, standing in the center of the destruction with his mind locked on only one objective.

"You took her from me!" he continued, another wave of energy erupting from his body, "You killed Tapara and Ropa! You destroyed Furuti! Gohan!"

The water pipes behind the wall suffered from the impact as well, breaking and spraying water everywhere. Nahog let the cold water flow over his body as he continued his rant.

"I swear, I'll destroy you! I'll do everything, anything! to kill you. I don't care if I have to destroy this entire planet, but I will kill you, you goddamn son-of-a-bitch monster with a god-complex!" The burst of power Nahog released shook the entire hideout, cracking walls everywhere, but also blasted all the remaining layers of blood from his body.

The latest tremor was also followed by screams, stunning Nahog out of his thoughts.

"Someone's here!"

Nahog immediately moved throughout the hideout, limited as it was, using his super-speed and immediately found what he was looking for.

A team of six scientists, along with four security guards, had entered the hideout. Nahog recognized each of the scientists; they had been his assistants in the process of creating his new family. When they saw Nahog suddenly appearing before them, still naked but covered in injuries and looking nothing short of mad, the scientists took a few steps back in pure fear.

The guards closed down around their charge, putting themselves between Nahog and the scientists. When Nahog didn't do anything other then watch, one of them found his bravery again, stepping forward to try and take Nahog on.

He was splattered on the wall, along with his three colleagues, a split second later. Having killed the guards, Nahog turned to the scientists.

"Please Nahog, don't kill us." The young, eager man begged, "You know us, man. You like us. We worked together for months on this. I swear, we're not here for you!"

Nahog held him against the wall before he had even finished his sentence, squeezing the fragile young man's throat but not killing him yet.

"Please, let him go!" another, a woman who had worked on implanting false memories into the minds of Furuti, Tapara and Ropa, shouted. "I swear, we're not here for you! Church sent us to clean up this entire operation."

The name of his former business partner seemed to wake Nahog back to some decree of his senses.

"Why?"

"Church!" the man being held by the throat managed to say, "Operation…. Deadline…"

"Nahog, let him go, please!" the woman pleaded again. All others seemed to have been frozen in place. Nahog released the man, letting him slide to the ground.

"Tell me!"

"Church wants this operation cleaned up. He said that it's backfired and you…."

"What?"

"You hadn't reached your deadline, so Church said that you failed."

"I didn't fail." Nahog's rage returned in full force. "Gohan interrupted me!"

His sense of reason vanished immediately when he thought of his hated, hated enemy and creator and he unleashed his anger on the six scientists before him, bright yellow light erupting from his hand.

XxX

Videl led Gohan to one of Oolong's gardens, away from the mansion, to have their talk. While Videl looked around the once beautiful area – now full of craters and other signs of destruction, thanks to the training the Z-fighters had held here – Gohan couldn't keep his eyes off of her. His heartbeat was through the roof, he could feel his palms becoming sweaty and he couldn't get his thoughts to straighten out.

He had been avoiding her because, as much as he didn't want to admit it, he had been afraid. Afraid that she would look at him with hate, or tell him that he was a monster.

'_This is ridiculous._' Gohan tried to scold himself, '_I've fought intergalactic tyrants, biologically engineered super weapons and clones all of which were capable of destroying planets with a thought, but I'm scared of her?_'

But it was true. Frieza, Cell, Nahog… none of them had the power to truly hurt Gohan. They could kill him, yes, but they had little chances of striking at his core. Nahog had tried and nearly succeeded, but Gohan felt confident that he had overcome that particular hurdle when he took up the cloak of Saiyaman. Videl, on the other hand, held his heart in the palm of her hand, ready to be crushed at a single remark.

Videl had stopped walking, but Gohan didn't really notice until he nearly bumped into her. She turned around, her piercing blue eyes locking Gohan's black ones and refusing to let them escape.

"My clone, Levid, told me a bit about what was going on." She started. Gohan immediately sucked in a breath. What had the clone told her and, more importantly, how and why? The truth could be twisted and turned when told in the right way. Would she think he was the bad guy here?

"And once I got here, your mom, Bulma and Krillin have been filling me on pretty much everything that happened. I think. It's quite a lot to take in, all at once. Aliens, super powered fighters, Dragon Balls, clones…"

She appeared to lose her train of thought for a moment, but then gathered herself again. Gohan used that moment where she had drifted to let his eyes sink back to the ground. He couldn't look at her. If he did, he wouldn't be able to think, to mind what he was saying and the wrong words could…

"Levid told me that you never touched me. Your mom, Bulma and Krillin all vouch for that as well, but… Gohan, look me in the eye and tell me you never touched me. Tell me that you've never hurt me. I… I need to hear it from you."

Gohan couldn't look her in the eye. He wanted to, more then anything in the world he wanted to tell her he would never hurt her and that he loved her and that he would protect her! But he couldn't. Not when he had seen what Nahog was capable of. And anything that Nahog was capable of, Gohan was capable of.

"Gohan…"

"Videl, I'm sorry." The words escaped his mouth before he could stop himself. "I've done something that I never should have done. I want to tell you those words, more then anything, but I can't. I would never intentionally hurt you, but I can't say that I'm not to blame for what has happened to you."

This time he did raise his eyes, looking at her face, but Gohan had never felt more pathetic, more vulnerable and more disgusted with himself.

He had never felt so weak before.

"I created Nahog and so many other clones, I made him into what he is. It's because of me that he exists and because of me that he wants revenge. I know. I know I'm not a saint, I know what I did was wrong, that I tried to play a god by being a creator of life and an executioner when I felt they weren't needed anymore, but I never wanted this. What I did was wrong, I can't deny that and I know Nahog wants revenge that he should have."

Gohan suddenly crashed to his knees, looking up at Videl, pleading for her to understand it.

"From the moment I decided that the clones were a risk to the world, I've been haunted by my choices, from the moment I took those drugs to kill my emotions so I could do what needed to be done, I knew what I did was wrong! Nahog escaped and he wants revenge on me. He's right! What I did is wrong. But Nahog… Videl you have to understand! I never wanted anyone to get hurt, that's why I did everything I did. Nahog wanted his revenge, but he extracted it on everyone else. He hurt others to get to me! I wouldn't hurt you if I could! I never would! I couldn't! Videl… I love you."

Those words had been burdening him for months before Nahog had even arrived. But since he had first announced it to his friends as the reason why Nahog targeted Videl, he had come to accept it. He was in love and there was nothing he could do about it. Still, he had feared the day he would say the words to Videl in person.

Videl didn't say anything; she just kept looking at Gohan, stunned at the confession. Nervous, Gohan continued with his rambling explanation.

"You have to see! That's why Nahog attacked you, more then anyone else. Because by hurting you he hurt me. Everything he did to you, he did to hurt me. But he couldn't stand to be without you, so he cloned you as well. And because he had turned you away from me, I was lost! For months I had nothing but my own anger to drive me, turning me away from my friends and family while I wanted nothing more then to kill Nahog.

It wasn't until I managed to talk to you again that I escaped from that vicious circle of hatred. I'm Saiyaman"

"Wha-?" Videl was still mostly unable to speak, in between what Gohan was telling her and the fact that he was not letting her put two words between his rambling. "You mean you? And we… It was you?"

"Yes, I'm Saiyaman. I took it up as a disguise, an alias so I could try and do some good in the world. I took up that mask so I could protect the world and give everyone hope again. I did, but it didn't just change the world. It changed me!"

"Well, I guess I can see the old Gohan being Saiyaman." Videl interrupted, lost in thought as well. "I never would have guessed it was you, because Saiyaman was so… nice and geeky, but it does fit with the old you. The one I knew from school."

"What do you mean?" Gohan's rambling was broken and he tried to stand up, but he couldn't. Not yet. Instead, he waited with dread for Videl to speak up again. When she didn't, he asked again. "Videl, what do you mean with the old me? I'm still me, I'm Gohan, the Gohan you always knew from school!"

"Are you?" Videl didn't accuse him, but she didn't exactly warm up to him either. She stayed a step away from him, as if to keep her difference. "Are you really the same Gohan I knew? Because I think you're not. The Gohan I knew from school was dorky and sweet and naive, but most of all, he was someone who I thought would be unable to hurt anyone. He was harmless and almost… innocent."

This shut Gohan up, but from he did feel a sense of dread.

"But you… either you've changed, Gohan, or I never knew the real you at school. The Gohan I knew – that I thought I knew! – would never do what you did."

"Videl…"

"You try to do the right thing, but along the way, you forget about anyone or anything in between you and your goal. I heard about your plan for fighting Nahog in Satan City. I heard everything you said in that meeting just now. Your plan didn't even try to move the fight out of the city. Hell, you guys launched the first attack! For all we know, it was one of you guys who actually killed Sharpener, not Nahog or any of the clones."

"But, with the Dragon Balls -" Gohan started, but Videl's eyes suddenly filled with fire as she regarded him.

"Your precious Dragon Balls are just an easy clean up!" She suddenly exploded, literally looking down on Gohan as he was on his knees before her. "Your Dragon Balls give you the ability to fight without considering the cost, without giving a damn about your lives or those of anyone else who gets involved. All you have to do is kill anyone that stands in your way and sort out who was innocent later? That is where you went wrong Gohan, long before you even started cloning.

"When you and your friends decided that you could decide who would return from the dead and who stayed in the next life, that's when you took on the position of gods. Your clones? That's your arrogance speaking. Killing them? Again; your arrogance because of the Dragon Balls. You don't have to worry about killing anyone, or even about anyone seeing it, because you can revive them with a wish. Those Dragon Balls have made you lose the value of life, but more than that… they cost you and everyone else here your humanity."

Apparently, this had been bothering Videl for a while, because she looked surprised when she finished her own rant. Still, when Gohan remained silent, Videl continued, pacing around as she talked.

"And your new plan? Like I said, I heard what was said and what wasn't said. You had some measure of control over that fusion-thing and you stopped him from killing Nahog. You want to wait for him and fight him yourself, just so you can have your own revenge. And afterwards, when everything is over, you want to go and erase everyone's memories? Pretend like it never happened? Sure, that's easy. You'll never have to take care of your own mistakes; never have to clean up your own messes."

"No, with the Dragon Balls we simply undo any damage we caused. Just because we have to fight a battle doesn't mean the rest of the world has to suffer for it."

"It doesn't?" Videl stopped her pacing and started glaring at the boy. "And who's call is that to make? Yours? Why? Just because you fight in the battle and you win it, it doesn't mean you get to decide what everyone remembers. That is the kind of arrogance that led you down this path Gohan, because you and your friends could make anything happen, anytime, you never had to think of the consequences of your actions. You never had to explain yourself to anyone else, never had to justify what you did to others. You just undid anything you didn't like. Where does that power end, Gohan?"

This rendered Gohan completely speechless. Truth be told, he had never even considered what Videl was saying.

"Taking those decisions…" Videl continued, "more than creating life, or taking it, you play a part you're never supposed to take. Creating life? Every mother in the world does it, it's no crime. What you did was unethical, yes, and I think it was wrong, but it's no crime. Taking lives? That's easy, every idiot in the world can do it and every idiot knows that it's wrong, because every law and ethic says it's a crime. Taking or creating life doesn't require the powers of a god, Gohan. But deciding who gets to return to life? That's crossing the line. The Gohan I knew… the Gohan I loved… he wouldn't have done that."

"I…"

"Maybe… Maybe I was a fool all along." Videl turned her back towards Gohan now, looking back towards the mansion, her voice soft but still heard by the other teen. She sucked in a deep breath, her entire body lightly shaking as she spoke.

"I loved an image, someone I saw at school but really hardly knew. I didn't know anything about your life and I'm not talking about your powers, or you being an alien. I didn't know anything about your family; I didn't know anything about your friends outside of school. Hell, I hardly even knew anything about you!

"I've always been upfront and open about who or what I am, so everyone knows everything about me. But you… I thought I loved you, when I hardly knew anything about you. Maybe the Gohan I fell in love with doesn't really exist, maybe he's just an image I created based on my wishes and hopes. But if he does exist, somewhere deep down there, hidden behind all the secrets and the powers and the arrogance… I want him to emerge again; I want him to do the right thing. Not the easy one, not the proper or vengeful thing, but the right thing."

When Videl finished, she looked Gohan straight in the eyes again, still breathing deeply. Gohan returned Videl's stare, but neither spoke.

"Krillin offered to take me to my dad. He's staying at a second home we have in East City. I'll be there, waiting to hear how this all ends."

With that, Videl walked towards the mansion, leaving Gohan behind.

For his part, Gohan was too stunned by her words to realize anything other than the fact that she was leaving. She had loved him? But she didn't anymore, not after what he had done. Not after what she had learned of him. And, maybe, she had a point. Maybe they took the Dragon Balls as an easy way to clean up.

But that wasn't important, not now. Only one thing was. Gohan had finally confessed to Videl, he had told her everything. She knew everything there was to know about Gohan.

But Videl didn't love him.

XxX

For the first time in nearly a week, Church pulled up to his own house. It was a nice building, nothing too fancy though he could certainly afford better. A single house in a good street with a nice garden around it and a private parking area; just like most other houses in the street. For the last week, Church had been flying all around the world, meeting business partners and having important meetings.

As he stepped out of his car, he looked over at the setting sun. For the first time in many years, the beautiful image was not soothing to the criminal overlord. Although he had been on the other side of the world when Nahog and his fellow clones fought in Satan City, he had still felt slight shocks and saw the destruction they had caused. For once he was glad that his wife had convinced him to buy this small, friendly house in North City, far away from his office in Satan City.

His family had been far, far away from all the destruction and death Nahog and his fellows had caused. But why was he feeling this anxious? He rarely felt anything he would describe as instincts; he was a man of reason and thought. The lights were on in the living room, not that strange since it was nearly time for supper.

With his bodyguard and aid right behind him, Church entered his house, his feeling of dread still present.

"Allison, Andy, Sheila, I'm home. Are you all in?"

"Yes Honey," Allison's voice came from the living room. "We're all here. We were… just about to go… go eat dinner."

There was something odd about the way his wife spoke. Normally, Allison was brimming with confidence, but now her voice was shaking. Church made a quick gesture and his bodyguard immediately pulled up two guns.

However, even with his bodyguard ready to kill any intruder, Church nearly had a heart attack when he entered the living room. His wife, son and daughter were all sitting on the couch, looking terrified. But it was the man sitting in the chair opposite them that froze Church in place. The bodyguard would be completely useless against him.

Nahog looked up at Church and smiled a mad, demented, evil smirk, made that much worse by the numerous injuries he was now sporting. Still smirking, Nahog stood up from the chair and disappeared from sight. An instant later, Church heard a loud splash noise to his side and was covered in a warm liquid. The thud that followed as the bodyguard's headless body fell to the ground was almost as sickening as being covered in bodily fluids.

"I've been waiting, we've been waiting." Nahog said as he pushed Church forward, setting him in the chair the teen had previously occupied. "You see, there's a little something I have to take care of before I can kill Gohan. And you're important for that. In fact, I have to pay you back, for what you did. So, I'll do what you did to me. I'll kill your family."

"No, don't…" Church pleaded, but Nahog pushed him back in his chair, apparently careful not to injure the crime boss.

"So, who should go first?" Nahog seemed almost amused by it, but Church was terrified. "Who do you love the most? Not like I give a fuck who dies first. Come on Church, tell me who it is. Who has Leonard's big, big love? Is it mommy? Or maybe the big, strong son? The beautiful and smart daughter? WHICH ONE!"

The sudden shout, added with Nahog's sudden mad grinning clicked in Church's head. Nahog had snapped. With the death of the other clones he had gone completely over the edge and was now literally insane. Knowing how unstable a madman could be, Church tried to keep his eyes locked to the ground or one of the objects around the room, away from his family, but even so they drifted.

He looked at Allison, his wife of nearly fifty years, and wanted nothing more than to tell her everything would be all right, that he would think of some way to get out of this. But the moment he locked eyes on her, Nahog spoke up.

"And we have a winner." He appeared besides the couch, right next to Allison and held his finger to her head. Then, agonizingly slowly, he started pushing. Slowly, visibly painfully, Nahog pushed his finger hard enough to crack Allison's skull and from there he entered her brain. All the time, Church could do nothing as his wife gave screams of horror and pain beyond imagining. While she was still screaming, her head suddenly exploded as Nahog released a miniscule amount of energy inside her head.

"One down, two to go. Who's next daddy?"

"You fucking sick psychopath!" Sheila yelled, past hysterical as she was covered in the brain matter of her mother. Nahog appeared before her, clamping a hand over her mouth. A second later, a loud crushing sound could be heard and Nahog released her. He had crushed Sheila's jaw, leaving the lower half of her face a distorted mess.

"Shut up you FUCKING WHORE!" he shouted, "This is what your father did to me! He made me watch as my family was killed, one after the other! Because of him, everyone in the world precious to me is dead. And I'll make sure it happens to him as well."

Then he turned around, leaving Sheila and her ruined face to their painful wailing, while Nahog looked at Church again. "Well? Number two?"

Despite his wishes, Church's eyes wandered over to his son. Nahog didn't miss it, appearing right behind the terrified young man. Andy was twenty-four and Church knew him to a brave, smart young man who wasn't scared easily. But now, he had soiled his pants as Nahog looked down on him.

"Up you get big boy." Nahog pulled him up with one arm, holding him over a foot off the ground. "You're next."

Just like with Allison, Nahog wasn't quick or clean here either. Instead, he raised a hand and blasted Andy's foot off. When the initial scream of pain was reduced, Nahog shot his other foot, then his knees and finally his thighs. Then he moved on to Andy's arms, destroying both hands, elbows and shoulders. Church looked away, but every time he did, Nahog turned his head back to make him watch. Petrified, the crime lord was helpless as his son lay flailing on the ground without his limbs, burned and pained beyond saving. Then, Nahog punched his through the gut.

Even now, not a quick death. Nahog held Church's head, forcing him to watch as his son slowly bled to his death.

Then, Nahog turned to Sheila. He had saved her for last and with her ruined jaw, she couldn't make any identifiable sounds. Nahog remedied that by ripping off half her mouth, sending teeth and pieces of bone flying across the room. While Sheila was bleeding profoundly, Nahog bend down and systematically started to break, dislocate or snap every bone in her body. Only then did he give her release, by breaking her ribs and pushing the broken ribs through her lungs.

Like her brother before her, the girl struggled helplessly for a few seconds before she finally died.

"And now," Nahog said as he turned to face Church, "you know how I feel." He took hold of Church's throat, raw and thick with his sobs, then slowly started to squeeze. The older man tried to fight, but it was useless, the cloned teenager was simply far too powerful. After nearly a minute of struggling, Church went limp.

"You had it fucking coming." Nahog spat as he twisted his hand, snapping Church's neck completely and severing his head from his body. "And now, for you, Gohan."

He released a burst of energy strong enough to devour the entire block in an explosion then flew off. He had a revenge to complete.

XxX

Almost a full day had passed since Krillin had brought Videl to her dad's second house, but Gohan hadn't come back into the house. Instead, he was still outside in the garden, ignoring the pouring rain. For hours on end, he had paced across the yard then sat down on a rock for hours, then started pacing again and now he was sitting on a rock again. Goten, Trunks and Marron had spend some time watching him, worry thick in their eyes, but the adults had finally succeeded in keeping the trio busy and away from the teenager.

Now, Piccolo was the only one who was watching over Gohan, floating a short distance away, under a roof, while doing his meditation. The Namek was interrupted from his daily meditation when his sensitive ears picked up the latest newscast.

"GOHAN!" he shouted, his voice gruff from lack of use in the past day, "Get inside, there's something happening that you have to see." The teen looked up at the panic in his master's voice, then followed the tall green alien inside, where they found most of the others watching the news.

"I was just about to go call you guys." Krillin said after he nearly crashed into them at the door. "This is bad, Gohan. Really bad."

Gohan rushed past his formerly bald friend and looked at the screen. Gohan entered right in the middle of the reporter's announcement.

"**-th City has come under a sudden, heavy attack from the terrorist Gohan. Or Nahog, it's still unclear exactly what is going on after the information we have received since the battle at Satan City, but it's clear that this is the work of one of the super-powered creatures who were present there. Entire city blocks have been destroyed, killing thousands instantly. We have no idea why this was done, it seems the destruction has been in a random – wait, hold on. Ladies and gentlemen, we are now going to show you a satellite image of the scene in North City."**

The scene on the TV changed, instead showing a city-wide shot and widespread destruction. But the pattern was not random, not at all. The burning streets, destroyed houses and other marks of destruction made a clear text, carved into the face of the city.

_To where we first met. To death._

"**It appears that there is a message included in the destruction of the city, but to what or who we cannot say.****"** The reporter looked to the side for a moment, nodded twice then looked back at the screen. **"I have just been informed, among many other buildings, the second house of Hercule Satan was part of those destroyed to make this strange message. Hercule himself has been recovered with light injuries, but there is no sign of Videl, who had just returned home yesterday after recovering from the battle at Satan City earlier this week."**

"THAT GODDAMN SON OF A BITCH!" Gohan's anger got the best of him as he transformed into a Super Saiyan, sending half the room flying and destroying the walls around him. "He kidnapped her. He took Videl! I'm going to kill him."

Still transformed, Gohan turned around and tried to march away, but Piccolo stood before him.

"Let me through!" Gohan demanded; his voice harder then steel as he pushed past Piccolo and marched out of the room, "I'm going to get the Dragon Balls. It's time I end this war, once and for all."

* * *

Beta Note: All beta'd and accounted for. This is Kushin eX saying, review now!


	25. Chapter 25

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or anything related to it.

XXXxxxXXXxxx

Videl was fighting off her exhaustion, pain and discomfort as Nahog entered the room. As far as she could tell, it had been nearly two days since he had kidnapped her from her own house, killing her new team of security guards before she could even blink. Then he had grabbed her and the next thing she knew they were flying over a city, before they finally stopped at what seemed like an abandoned warehouse.

She had seen the injuries Nahog had received from his fight then and had gasped. The gasp had earned her a backhanded slap which nearly broke her skull and sent her flying across the room. When she came too, Nahog had bound her hands and feet before turning around and simply… vanishing.

'_He's using his super speed._' Videl realized, hardly surprised when the badly scarred teenager appeared before her again, but now with sets of clothing and bags of food. He had apparently decided to go looting a shopping center and supermarket. As he got changed right before her, Videl saw the full extension of his injuries. It was a rather disgusting sight.

When Nahog had finished dressing – wearing a lose sweatshirt and sweatpants – he turned to face Videl. If she hadn't already known just what Nahog was capable of, that look alone would have scared her enough to make her realize what she was dealing with. He looked at her, stalked over to her and fear gripped Videl.

'_He's going to rape me again!_'

But Nahog did no such thing. Instead, he roughly held her face with one hand, stared her in the eye and then dropped her to the ground, muttering something.

"It's not her." it sounded like. "I can't, not if it's a fake. Not if it's not her. I. Will. Kill. You. Gohan!"

She had no idea what he was going on about, but for the entire period he had been going on like that. He switched between pacing around the warehouse to sitting down and eating some of his food – still raw, or otherwise uncooked – but all the time mumbling to himself.

'_He's gone mad!_' Videl realized as Nahog proclaimed his intention to murder Gohan for the unkempt time. Before, Nahog had clearly been a dangerous man; smart, cunning, manipulative, attractive and able to take on any living creature on the planet, most of them without even trying. But now, he was still as smart and cunning and powerful, but he had apparently gone completely off the deep end.

Smart, strong _and_ psychotic.

The combination made Videl's skin crawl every time Nahog so much as glanced at her. She had forced herself to stay awake throughout her entire captivity, not trusting what would happen when she fell asleep. But maybe it was time for a new approach.

"Nahog, will you listen to me?" She nearly pleaded with him, her voice apparently freezing the half-alien clone in his step. "I… I know. I heard everything that happened. How you… cloned everyone, including me. Gohan told me. He said, you cloned me, because you loved me."

"SHUT UP!" Nahog literally caused an explosion with his anger, the remains of his food being completely incinerated. "Don't talk to me about Gohan! He's a dead man, a monster! He's the one who cloned everyone, he's the fake and I'll kill him. Don't you dare, don't you dare talk to me you pathetic imitation! I'll kill him. I'll kill him if I have to exterminate every last living thing on this planet, I'll kill him if I have to destroy this planet itself!"

He kept on going, his energy expanding more with every sentence and Videl felt truly terrified. She knew those were no idle threats: Nahog was more then capable of blowing up the planet. She found herself hoping for a rescue.

'_Come on Gohan, some of your friends are telepaths, find me! Please, come find me._'

"I will kill you; I'll get revenge for what you did to my family." Nahog continued on mumbling, "and after I'm done with you Gohan, then… then I'll destroy this entire planet, I'll kill everyone. Why should anyone else live hmm? If my family can get killed, I'll destroy every other family there is."

Videl felt more sweat roll down her back as she prayed for Gohan to find her quickly.

XxX

Gohan stood in the mansion's garden, looked down at the seven pulsing balls before him and ready to summon Shenron, when Vegeta literally pulled him away from the wish-granting orbs.

Still holding the young half-saiyan by the shoulder, Vegeta dragged him off a ways before finally turning to look at him. Vegeta was looking nothing short of pissed and Gohan knew it.

"What exactly do you think you're doing brat?" Vegeta demanded, staring straight at Gohan. "You come up with all your elaborate schemes and complicated plans and strategies, but when there's finally a perfect opportunity to finish him off and you suddenly force your way into _not_ killing your clone? Are you so blinded by your thirst for revenge now?"

"You have no right to lecture me." Gohan's voice didn't raise a single octave, but it was full of poison. "In every fight we ever had, you always ran off and tried to do things on your own. Don't you dare thinking of criticizing me for wanting my just revenge, when you were always running off and taking on enemies on your own."

"And what good did that do boy?" Vegeta immediately returned. "I'm no fool and neither are you. I've learned from my past mistakes, otherwise I wouldn't have agreed to go along with all your plans and strategies, because I remember what a fat lot of good my previous actions did. Are you too much of a fool not to learn from the mistakes of others?"

Gohan was silent, not knowing how to respond. Out of all reactions he had imagined from the proud Prince, self-reflection and admitting he had made a mistake were definitely not at the top of the list. Instead of replying, he walked right past the shorter Saiyan.

"Calm yourself boy." Vegeta continued, his tone now more restrained, but still commanding. Gohan froze in his step. "If you don't control yourself, if you enter into this battle with nothing but blind rage, you will allow your clone to win. Do not make the same mistake that I have made, learn from examples set by others. Calm yourself and fight with a cool head, or you will lose everything."

"You don't get it." Gohan finally replied, his own voice still soft in volume, but sharp as a knife in tone "Nahog already won. He's turned me into a heartless monster, he's turned Videl against me and he destroyed any chance I may have had of a normal life. He's won… and I'll kill him for it."

Without waiting for Vegeta's response, Gohan walked back to the Dragon Balls and finally summoned Shenron. It was time to put his master plan into action.

XxX

As the subject of the meeting, Goku was given the rare honor to be present when all four of the Kai's met in a session led by the Grand Kai. Since the order had come from King Yemma himself, none of the Kai's could avoid being present.

"Hey Y'all," Grand Kai said in his normal jovial voice, "Well, with everyone here, let's get funky!"

The four Kai's let out a sigh. Why did their boss have to be so… eccentric?

"Now, y'all know where we're at. Goku here is about ready to be send back to Earth in order to deal with that scuffle going on 'ver there. But, it'll be 'round three 'r so days b'fore everything's set. And from what North Kai here gathered, it looks like them boys are getting ready to continue their fight today, in 'bout five or so human hours. With their power, they can and will destroy everything on the planet before Goku is ready to return. So, anyone got any other ideas besides waiting it out?"

"Hmm…." South Kai, by far the tallest member present, even taller then Goku himself, was rubbing his chin, speaking an idea he had developed. "I think that we're going about this the wrong way." He finally said. "We're worried about what we're going to do about those two kids fighting each other. That's certainly the root of our problem, but the reason King Yemma asked for our help is because of the widespread chaos occurring, no?"

"Yes." West Kai was nodding, "Because of their fear, the people of Earth are losing faith in each other and themselves. If this goes on, they will cause global chaos, resulting in civil war and a serious step back in the human development. They'll fall behind on the celestial planning. We Kai's are meant to stabilize the celestial plan and this event is causing serious damage."

"Then I think we should tackle that problem, rather than the fighting." South Kai returned, "Those two will clash, no matter what and we can do little to interfere there. The original version of this Gohan character has all the tools he needs to win; superior numbers, firepower and better health. However, unless we help make the public believe that something good will happen, the civil war will still erupt and the celestial plans will be delayed."

"So, let the brats kill each other, while we focus our attention on the public?" East Kai summarized. "The idea itself has merit, but of those two are allowed to fight without restrictions, they will cause irreparable damage to the planet and it's eco systems. Within three hundred years or less, the planet would become a wasteland."

"Yes, but even our direct intervention would be pointless. They're stronger then us and our best fighters will take a considerable time to have their bodies restored." South Kai returned, "However, if we use our magical abilities to link every human on the planet to the fight and let them watch as the real Gohan defeats his clone – ensuring, of course, that it makes the boy look like a true hero, overcoming adversary and trial and voila instantly, Earth has a new hero and people will regain hope again."

"But what if the boy loses?" East Kai sounded like that was an all-too likely outcome.

"He won't." Goku smiled like it was a fact no-one could dispute. "I know Gohan, he's my son. He won't lose; he's the strongest fighter there's ever been. He won't lose to anyone."

"Ehm, Goku, you do realize that Gohan is literally fighting against himself, right?" King Kai cautiously asked. "That means that any talent Gohan has, his clone also has."

"Yeah I know. But Gohan won't lose, I just know it. Besides, he's got Vegeta and Piccolo and Krillin to back him up."

"He has a point. That Gohan boy has all the advantages now, especially with how the clone's sanity is broken." West Kai was nodding in agreement, "However, I simply must voice my concerns about whether or not the boy will be the hero we seek. I don't think I need to remind any of you on his most recent behavior? The boy is obsessed, nearly psychotic in his own behavior to stop the clone."

"Yes, which is why we will tweak the images a bit to show him in a better light." South Kai immediately spoke up.

"Hmm, I kinda like it." The Grand Kai interfered. "The boy's made a couple of bad choices, sure, but down b'neeth it at all, he's a good kid. Unlike his clone. Neither are saints, but hey, in modern society, who is?"

XxX

Early the next day, after another night in which Videl had forced herself to stay awake, fearing what Nahog would do otherwise, Nahog had roughly grabbed the girl and flown off. In his wake, the warehouse he had been staying in fell apart from the force of his take off. Videl saw water shoot by underneath her, moving faster then she had ever imagine possible. In barely four minutes of flying, Nahog had crossed what looked like an ocean and was rapidly approaching Satan City.

'_What's left of Satan City, anyway._' Videl grimly corrected herself. They were floating above the crater half a minute later, the entire flight from Central America to her old hometown having taken no more then five minutes.

Videl's look of amazement had worn off, however, when Nahog literally dropped her to the ground. Thankfully she wasn't bound anymore, so she was able to catch herself, but before she so much as stood up, Nahog was behind her, twisting her arm and keeping her in place.

"He'll be here soon." Nahog said, his voice not rising or falling, but sounding all the more chilling because of it. "Then I'll kill him. And with you here, he won't dare fight back. I'll really make him pay."

However, the lack of Gohan's immediate arrival seemed to annoy Nahog more then anything else.

"He's trying to escape, fucking bastard, damn coward. I'll get him here." Raising his other hand, Nahog started shooting small yellow orbs at random spots. "See if this'll draw his attention."

The small yellow orbs made impact with the ground and each immediately transformed into a massive explosion, strong enough to wipe out an entire city block, if they were still there.

Four explosions had erupted into life, when a fifth blast was suddenly intercepted by another blast, which struck it from the side and then carried it up into the sky. A moment later, the sky turned yellow as the two small balls of pure, raw power exploded.

Gohan stood on the other end of the crater, one hand raised and his entire body glowing from his energy.

"Did you think I would miss this?" Gohan's voice was… dark, was the only way Videl could describe it. "You know as well as I do that I won't miss a chance to finish things between us Nahog. I'll be there any time you appear, waiting for a chance to finish you. It ends today Nahog."

"You!" with the way Nahog was glaring at Gohan, Videl almost expected him to explode on the spot – something that she knew wouldn't even be that strange, considering both fighters could destroy mountains faster then she could blink – but nothing happened as Gohan floated down to ground level.

Gohan was wearing a blue gi, with red wristbands and black boots, a sharp contrast to Nahog's ragtag collection of grey sweats. Videl felt like the temperature had dropped to freezing as she stood there, caught between the stares of the once-identical men.

"I'll make you pay!" Nahog shouted, spit flying from his mouth. "For everything you did to me, I'll kill you! And you can't lift a finger to stop me; if you so much as twitch, I'll kill her." at this point, Nahog dragged Videl up by her arm, lifting her off the ground and shook her like a rag for good measure.

Gohan's face got even darker, a look of anger settling there as he took a half-step forward. Then he seemed to regain control of himself and simply kept staring at Nahog.

"You can't do that." Gohan made it sound like there really wasn't any other alternative. Was he really that good at bluffing? "You have my original attachment to Videl, my feelings of love for her and desire to protect her. You can't hurt her, unless you're fooling yourself, like you did earlier."

"I'm nothing like you!" Nahog immediately yelled, "I had feelings once, but because of you she's dead! Because of you I can never hold Levid in my arms again; why the fuck should I care if anything happens to this bitch?"

As if to prove his point, Nahog dropped Videl, but before she had moved even an inch from where she had been hanging, Nahog's fist found her stomach. For a second, Videl thought that she had finally reached the end; that she would die from the attack, but nothing happened. Shocked, she opened her eyes, seeing a look of horror on Nahog's face, an instant before Gohan's fist smashed into Nahog's face and sent the clone flying.

"Are you alright?" Gohan looked over his shoulder as Videl dropped to her knees, her hands shooting over her body to look for injuries that she couldn't find.

"What happened?" was all Videl could mutter. A short distance away, Nahog literally erupted back to his feet, the ground around him exploding and scattering as he floated back to his original.

"No… h-how? What is happening?"

"It's over Nahog." Gohan announced, smirking at his clone. "I've sealed your powers, you'll never hurt another soul again. Now, it's time for you to die."

Nahog was apparently still stunned from the lack of effect his attack had given, because he didn't react until Gohan had already transformed – his hair now glowing gold – and could only barely get a block up before Gohan's fist hit. Nahog was literally sent flying over the horizon, but for warriors like them, Videl knew it mattered little.

The planet itself was their battlefield, not the craters left of this city.

"How did you do that?" Videl asked as she got back to her feet. "How did you manage to seal his powers? Was it some kind of failsafe, something you just conveniently forgot to mention until now?"

"It's nothing like that." Gohan explained, his hair turning black again. "Last night, I used the Dragon Balls and summoned Shenron, so he could grant me my two wishes. Don't argue, hear me out. I wished for Shenron to undo all the damage the world has suffered because of the clones, but only after this fight was over. My other wish is how I sealed Nahog's powers, how I know he'll never be a threat to anyone else ever again."

"What was the wish?" Videl asked, her brain attempting to work, but nearly dropping down from having stayed awake for over seventy-two hours straight.

Gohan started to explain, but a distance away, up in the sky, a large golden light suddenly appeared. Videl knew what it meant; Nahog had also transformed, just like Gohan had mere seconds before. Standing on the ground, Gohan once again erupted into blinding light as electricity coursed over his body.

"Videl," Gohan's voice was much clearer then it had been when Nahog was around. Did he really feel that strongly about his clone? "I know I'm not perfect and that I've done stupid things. But before I leave, there's one thing I want you to know; no matter what happens, even if you don't return my feelings or even grow to hate me, I will always love you and protect you."

Gohan disappeared before Videl could even fully hear the words or continue asking about the wish, probably chasing after Nahog before the clone tried to hide or set up an ambush. As the words began to finally sink in, an instant after Gohan's disappearance, Piccolo and Krillin seemed to appear out of thin air and caught the girl as she fell to the ground.

XxX

Gohan, his body covered in lightning from his transformation to the second stage of being a Super Saiyan, caught up with Nahog nearly two hundred miles away from Satan City, where the clone was floating in his transformed state as well. Below them, water spread as far as the eye could see.

Neither wasted words when they met, instead clashing fist-to-fist right away. The water below was scattered, creating a maelstrom from the force of their punches colliding. Almost as soon as their fists collided, both half-Saiyans vanished into movement.

Gohan started with a kick, but Nahog vanished before it could connect, reappearing behind Gohan. Spinning around, Gohan lashed out with a backhand, but Nahog caught it and kneed Gohan in the back. Gohan, moving with the attack as best he could, flipped himself around to face Nahog and punched him with his free arm.

Nahog's head was reeling back form the punch, which Gohan used as his opening; he raised both of his feet and drop-kicked Nahog in mid-air, sending the clone flying. Nahog stabilized himself in mid-air, then spun around and flew away from Gohan. The original Half-Saiyan immediately followed in pursuit, his hands already glowing with energy, ready to strike.

Before Gohan could release the energy though, they left the ocean behind and were now rapidly flying over land, forests and mountains nothing more then a blur beneath them. Gohan realized that they must have passed an ocean while fighting and had reached another continent.

While Gohan realized it, Nahog had turned around and fired a blast at him. Gohan barely managed to fly to the side and evade the blast, but Nahog had used the momentary blindness to disappear and reappear above Gohan, both of his knees smashing into the original's back. Much like Nahog before him, Gohan was sent flying against his will, but he was also angled to go crashing into the ground.

Gohan stabilized himself a second before he hit the ground, the burst of energy used shredding the trees and rocks around him, before he quickly vanished. Nahog passed through his after image almost immediately, his fist impacting with the solid earth and immediately making a crater. Gohan reappeared right next to his clone, his leg already mid-way through a kick. Nahog raised his other arm to defend himself, taking the hit but still being knocked back.

Gohan tried to follow up on his advantage, but Nahog pushed him back with a burst of energy, before facing him and sending him flying with another blast, fired at point blank range. The blast wasn't terribly strong for Gohan, but enough to send flying a distance. Gohan was launched back into the sky, trying to hold onto the ball of energy, but before he could redirect it to the sky, Nahog reappeared and smashed his fist into Gohan's face.

With the momentary stun, Gohan lost his grip on the energy blast and it exploded, sending Gohan flying further back and ruining the top of his gi. Taking a leaf out of Nahog's book, Gohan used the explosion to create some distance between him and his clone and flew away.

'_I need a second to __breathe __and think._' He reasoned with himself, trying to come up with a counter. Hit-and-run was a useful tactic, but not so much in a one-on-one fight. As Gohan flew over more land, much of it either mountains or forests, Gohan realized where they were: South-America. Their fight had already carried them over the South Pacific Ocean.

Gohan came to a sudden stop when he saw water appearing again, having reached the other end of the continent. A large city was a short distance away: Rio de Janeiro. Nahog's energy blast went sailing past Gohan, as the sudden stop interrupted Nahog's aim. Before the clone could stop, Gohan turned around and grabbed him, spinning him around and leading him to the ground.

With his knee raised to Nahog's chest, Gohan crashed the both of them into the earth, creating another crater and sending shockwaves around that could possibly level a nearby city. Before he could continue to pound Nahog further, the clone grabbed a handful of dirt and sprayed it at Gohan's face. The wall of energy and lightning generated by his super saiyan two form prevented the dirt from getting into his eyes, but he was still momentarily surprised.

That surprise was all Nahog needed as he headbutted Gohan, forcing him off and then gave him a knee in the stomach for good measure. Gohan nearly crashed to his knees, but while he was down reached out and grabbed Nahog's leg. Pulling the appendage, Gohan misbalanced Nahog and managed to lift him up, spinning him around to gain speed before letting go.

Nahog recovered in the air, but Gohan crashed into him and still flew him further, flipping over and over as they flew. They were, once again, above a great mass of land, though water was always within their sights. Nahog pounded Gohan's back, forcing the original to let go, but Gohan recovered by giving an almost instant uppercut. Nahog returned a knee, which smashed into Gohan's side and stunned him with pain for a second. Nahog, hanging upside down from the short tumble, blasted Gohan once again.

This time Gohan was more ready for it, catching the blast and sending it back to it's creator, but Nahog simply moved to the side and re-engaged Gohan in a melee. Gohan happily complied, their fists and feet flying and clashing time and time again, both fighters seeming to disappear and reappear at a moment's notice, evading and counterattacking each other.

Nahog suddenly had a slight advantage when, in the middle of their fight, Gohan got a face full of the sun's light, which stopped him from seeing Nahog's next punch coming. It stunned Gohan enough for Gohan to lace his hands together and smash the jackhammer into Gohan's face again. Gohan crashed into the forest beneath them, sending trees flying everywhere.

However, as Nahog disappeared beneath the trees, Nahog realized his mistake; the trees in the forest were nothing short of massive, each towering over any human. Gohan easily hid himself in the trees, where he had a clear shot at Nahog. For a second Nahog considered lowering himself and chasing after Gohan, but then decided against it. Instead he raised his hand and fired a series of energy blasts into the forest, blowing large areas of it up and setting those just outside of the explosion alight.

Gohan returned the favor in kind, shooting his own blast at Nahog, then moving to another location and doing the same, before finally appearing behind his clone and landing a jackhammer punch on his back. However, Gohan didn't make the same mistake Nahog had made; he reappeared before Nahog and kicked out with both of his legs, striking the clone in the stomach and sending him flying again.

Nahog came to a stop above the ocean once again, but immediately turned around and fled from his enemy. He needed some time to think and recover, realize what he was going to do to ensure Gohan's painful death. Gohan was hot on his heels when Nahog escaped from the ocean, crossed some more land and suddenly flew over a desert.

Gohan was firing energy blasts one after the other at his clone now, but Nahog all evaded them by flying just a little to the left or right, never in a predictable pattern. Nahog raised his own hand, but aimed it at the ground instead. He didn't fire a blast, instead using raw, un-manipulated energy and used it to cause a tornado-like effect in the desert below. Instantly, the sand rose up and obscured him from sight.

Gohan came to a stop, floating around the sudden sandstorm, trying to locate his clone, ready for another attack. When none came, however, he used a blast of his own raw energy to dissolve the sandstorm and see the skies again. Nahog was nowhere to be found.

"Dammit!"

Looking around, Gohan saw a spot in the distance, rapidly shrinking. Nahog had used the barrier to blind Gohan and get away, heading straight for New York City. Gohan immediately blasted away in hot pursuit.

XxX

"Easy there." Krillin gently held Videl, guiding her to the ground so she could sit. "It's all right, you're safe now."

"Thanks." Videl said; her voice surprisingly strong despite her weak knees. She was hardly surprised by the arrival of the two superhuman warriors. She had heard of their abilities and was actual glad they were there. Still, despite her exhaustion, Videl was too high on adrenaline to fall asleep or do anything other then talk.

"Tell me." Videl suddenly demanded as she looked at the short, black haired man and the incredibly tall green-skinned alien. "Tell me who Gohan really is." Even to her the question seemed a bit out of the blue, but it was still something she desired to know.

She saw the confused looks on the faces of both men, then explained a bit more.

"It's just, I've only known Gohan from school and there he's a nice, shy guy. But from what I've seen these last few days and from what you told me about what happened, it sounds more like he's the king of the hard-asses. Who is Gohan really? Was he acting at school, playing a part? Because I can't believe that that naive Gohan from my school and the hard-ass warrior out for revenge are one and the same."

"No." Krillin immediately answered. "I can't really answer your question, it's kinda complicated, but what you saw at your school wasn't an act. Gohan really is like that and that's how he prefers to be. However, that is in a situation where there's no trouble and no need for him to be serious. Gohan has been through battles all his life, so he knows what to do in them. When he's involved in a fight, he simply… adjusts to it, I guess."

"Gohan is who he is." Piccolo supplied, his arms still crossed, looking down on the human girl. "He's an experienced warrior, a kid with a good hart but right now… more then anything else, he's a scared, confused and cornered teenager."

"What?" Videl had expected a lot, but not hearing that Gohan was scared and confused. He had seemed anything but that.

"You have to understand, Gohan is still a teenager, despite everything he went through and what he can do." Piccolo continued, his tone gruff but not unkind. "And since Nahog appeared, Gohan has continuously been at a disadvantage when facing him. Nahog kept pushing him further and further into a corner, turning your entire school against him, made the entire world fear and hate him and, probably worst of all, Nahog turned you against Gohan.

Gohan reacted in the only way he knew off: try to destroy the source of the problem. If he could eliminate Nahog, perhaps all would be right with the world again. That's why he's been doing everything he can to defeat him, even things he hates. Gohan is desperate to finish this before things get any worse."

Videl only nodded, trying to understand Gohan's thoughts. Yes, in the past, their problems had all vanished when their enemy had been defeated. But… this wasn't as simple as that, or hadn't Gohan realized that yet?

"There is one thing you don't understand. For all his power and talent, Gohan was desperate while fighting Nahog. He isn't used to facing an enemy outside of the battlefield and he never wanted to. Gohan doesn't have the aspiration to become a warrior, if anything he wants to be a normal person. Nahog is ruining any chance Gohan has ever had at what he wanted most; a normal life, with normal friends and normal responsibilities. He never wanted to become a warrior that the entire world depended on or feared."

XxX

Nahog noticed Gohan approaching before he managed to reach the city, but he managed to keep his lead long enough actually enter the city and hide behind the buildings. However, as he did so, something stared to gnaw at his mind; all the inhabitants were seemingly frozen in place, keeping their eyelids shut but appearing focused, as if they were watching something.

'At least they won't give me away with their shouts' Nahog thought as he maneuvered through the city, hoping to launch a surprise attack on Gohan.

Almost as soon as he had thought that, the people around him suddenly opened their eyes and collectively turned to look at him. Screams rose from their throats as chaos overtook the street. A blast of energy immediately left Nahog's hand, ready to destroy the screaming humans in an explosion.

However, when the light of the explosion died down, all the humans were still standing unharmed. They were stunned by the fact that they were alive, but they were completely unharmed.

"What the hell?" Nahog yelled, just before Gohan kicked him in the face, sending him through several buildings and quickly leaving New York once again. Flipping around in mid-air, Nahog fled again as he tried to think.

'_He said he sealed my power._' Nahog recalled, his mind switching between thinking rationally and focusing on nothing more then death and destruction. '_I couldn't hurt Videl or those weaklings just now, but I can hurt him? What the hell is going on?_'

Gohan was hot on his heels again; Nahog stopped in mid-air and changed direction, his knee connecting with Gohan's face before Gohan could react. Blood flew from Gohan's nose, and Nahog noticed that both of them were covered in small wounds from their fights.

'_So, I can still hurt Gohan, more __than__ anyone else. Perfect._'

Nahog and Gohan rejoined in a melee again, ducking underneath kicks, floating out of reach of headbutts, punching and countering each other, firing energy blasts at point-blank range, that both still managed to evade, all the while their fight kept moving further and further away from the civilized world.

Something clicked together in Nahog's mind as he dodged to the side from one of Gohan's punches, his knee already making it's way to Gohan's stomach and making contact at the same time as Nahog's elbow smashed into Gohan's back. For good measure, Nahog picked him up, spun around once and then send Gohan flying into a large white mountain.

The fight had apparently moved all the way to the North Pole when neither fighter had been focused on location. Gohan broke free with a burst of energy, untouched by the cold.

Nahog floated a distance away, equally immune to the cold, but now giving something resembling a smile.

"I've got it figured out." Nahog announced, his eyes never leaving Gohan's. "I know how you 'sealed' my powers."

"Oh really?" Gohan floated in mid-air as well, his own eyes filled with hatred as he looked at his clone. "Do tell."

"You used the Dragon Balls and wished it to be so I couldn't hurt anyone else, didn't you?"

"Almost right," Gohan corrected, "I used the Dragon Balls to make two wishes. The first is that, once you die all your damage will be undone. Cities and forests returned to their old build. The second wish is what sealed your powers; for the next six months, it is impossible for anyone to hurt someone without a perfect DNA match. Only identical twins or clones can still hurt each other now. For six months, you can't harm a soul other then me. And don't think, even for a second, that you will be going off and trying to outlast it. You can't stay hidden from me for that long."

"Oh, trust me; I'm not planning on hiding from you." Nahog raised both his hands, firing a blast at Gohan, which was deflected and caused an explosion that seemed to devour half the polar cap, but Nahog was already on the move.

"Let's see just how strong your seal is, shall we?" he shouted back, quickly leaving the north pole and heading towards civilized areas once again. Ice cracked and oceans parted as the two flew past at speeds far above supersonic, energy blasts fired back and forth causing more explosions. Gohan tried his best to catch up, but Nahog was exactly as fast as him, keeping the distance between them.

Finally they reached land, but before they saw any really civilized areas – most of it were large, empty plains or mountains – they were above water again, then land once more. As best as Gohan could guess, they were now in Europe, heading towards either central or eastern Europe.

Adrenaline was still rushing strong through his body, making it difficult for Gohan to really think straight; instead using his instincts and long-honed reflexes to take control of his actions when they finally did reach a city. Nahog looked down, energy already leaving his hands before Gohan could attack.

Without thinking, trusting in his instincts for once, Gohan sped down, moving past the blast and blocking it with his body. As soon as the ball of energy made contact with Gohan, it exploded violently. The explosion, had it hit the city below, would have caused massive damage.

Nahog. Still floating above, was smiling victoriously, barely stopping himself from hysterical laughter as he saw his hated enemy take the blast. He fired another one for good measure then quickly moved over to the next city. Gohan tried to catch the second blast, but like before, it exploded upon contact.

Before the explosion had died down, Gohan burst forth, his clothing now severely damaged and small burns and wounds spread all over his body, but something felt different for him. Something had snapped into place when he had moved without thought, taking that blast for those people instead of doing the logical thing and letting it hit. No-one would have died from the blast, the wish ensured that, but still… it felt right to protect the city.

Nahog was already firing blasts left right and center, each one aimed at a village or city they passed while they moved deeper into the land. As Gohan deflected the blasts with his own, or shielded the homes with his body, taking more and more blasts but each one making him feel better, he realized that they were moving through Poland and Belarus, heading towards Russia.

'_Good, Russia has a lot of empty ground. We can fight there._' Wiping the blood from his face, Gohan continued in pursuit. Suddenly Nahog vanished from sight, reappearing above Gohan and smashing his knees into Gohan's back. Gohan released a burst of energy, sending his clone flying then turned to look at him.

Whatever it was that Nahog saw, it infuriated him even further, visibly shaking with rage. Gohan couldn't understand it, but thought it probably had to do with how good he was suddenly feeling.

"Stop your goddamn smiling!" Nahog yelled as he launched himself forward, fist ready to take Gohan out. Gohan caught the fist, pulled Nahog close, flipped over and then lashed out with both legs, sending the clone flying, quickly following in pursuit. Nahog fired another blast, which Gohan deflected into the sky, then reengaged in the fight.

As the two were locked in their melee, land, cities and villages all sped by underneath them, but neither fighter paid it attention. Gohan still felt much easier and, since his sudden revelation, the fight seemed to be easier too, despite his injuries. Nahog seemed to become more infuriated by each passing second, his scowl deepening.

"Don't smile damn you!" Nahog shouted as he managed to get behind Gohan and jackhammered him into the ground. Gohan crashed into the empty plains of central Russia. "Don't smile! You hate me; you'll hate me till I kill you! Just like I hate you!"

Gohan stood up from the crater, looking up at his clone and realized just why it was that he was feeling so much better. Why the fight seemed to be getting easier, despite his injuries. For once, he wasn't using his brains, but his feelings, his instincts.

"You're right, Nahog." Gohan said, the calm tone in his voice surprising both fighters, "I do hate you and I want to kill you, just like you hate me. But I just realized something. It's taken me a long time, but I finally see it. I was wrong all this time."

Still floating in the sky, Nahog looked down, a look of confusion appearing on his face.

"Do you know what it was that made Dad the greatest hero I ever knew? He always succeeded and everything ended well. I've been trying to get there as well, but I've made one mistake. I tried to fight you using my logic, using strategy and planning, preparing for fall-outs, keeping secrets from other people and trying to manipulate the people of earth. But Dad would never have done that. And that's why I've been failing.

If Dad had been the one fighting you, he would have simply fought you, not worried about all the consequences. He wouldn't be worried about what other people thought about him, wouldn't be worried about plans or strategies or whatnot. He wouldn't be worried or burdened and he could fight you with all his power. In every fight, in every action, I've been thinking about all the possible outcomes, of what every action I take can do and mean and it's been hampering me. I've been too busy thinking to fight properly, too busy worrying to do the right thing. No more.

This fight, this one fight with you where I will kill you, I have no great plans, no major schemes. Just you and me, one on one until the end, fighting with nothing but our skills, our strength and our hearts. Just like Dad would have done. So tell me, Nahog, is your heart still burdened by everything that happened, or is it finally free? Because I have found my answer, I found my freedom, thanks to you. No worries, no doubts. Just like dad, for once, I will fight with my heart, my gut and my instincts, not my logic. Just like dad; I'm fighting now and I'll fight well, damn all the consequences!"

Instantly, Gohan charged forward, while Nahog was still floating in surprise at Gohan's new stand on things.

XxX

Krillin was carrying Videl as he flew through the air, but all three had their eyes closed, looking at the battle going on through some strange magic, making it appear on the inside of their eyelids. Piccolo had explained that some sort of celestial entity – a Kai? – must have used it's magic to have the world see the fight. Whoever it was, they somehow managed to make the fight visible for her and probably every other human on Earth. From their reactions, the people from New York had been watching the fight before they realized that Nahog and Gohan were right there.

And in the fight, Gohan was being nothing short of heroic. The fight itself was on a level of intensity that Videl would have thought was impossible, but then they _were_ superhuman fighters. But what struck at Videl the most was how Gohan, after having explained why Nahog couldn't hurt anyone else, still dove in to take the hits for those villages and towns and cities. He didn't need to; he had told the entire world that no-one would die if the impacted, but he still took those hits. It was against all logic, it was dumb, possibly even stupid.

But it was definitely heroic.

Gohan was literally taking hits for innocent people, not allowing anyone to get hurt by the fight. But what had made the most impact on Videl, after everything she had seen, was what he had told Nahog. He wasn't thinking, but reacting on instinct. Not hiding behind his thoughts, but doing what he would have been doing. This was the real Gohan she was watching. A Gohan that was brave and selfless.

As Krillin was carrying her, Videl opened her eyes and made a decision of her own.

Yes, this wasn't the Gohan she had imagined when she fell in love. This Gohan wasn't perfect, he had made mistakes. He been a plain idiot when he created the clones, had seemed downright cold in how he planned to fight them, had made mistakes and was probably responsible for more than a few deaths in Satan City because of their fight there. He was far from perfect.

But despite all that, he still wasn't evil, or a bad person. He had tried to make due with what he could, he had tried to solve the problem, tried to protect the world in any way he could. And for all his flaws, Videl couldn't really blame him or call him evil. He had tried to make the best of the situation. He knew he could use the Dragon Balls to revive the innocent afterwards, which had made him careless, but he hadn't exactly gone and destroyed every city in the world in hopes of finding Nahog either.

He was flawed, he had made mistakes, he had been downright stupid at times, but still.. Videl felt he was a good person, placed in a bad situation, and would do the right thing. Just like he was doing now.

"Piccolo?" The large alien didn't slow down, but opened his eyes to look at her. "Do you have some magical way of contacting Gohan in the fight? There's something I need to tell him. I know it might not be the best of timings, but it's important."

The alien placed one large hand over her head, but there was no pain or pressure from his grip.

"I'll set up a telepathic link." Piccolo explained. "I'll serve as the medium, just talk like you normally would and Gohan will hear your words in his mind. But don't distract him too much, he is still in the middle of a fight and is already heavily injured.

XxX

After Gohan's sudden revelation, he had gained a temporary advantage over Nahog, striking blows on the clone's ribs, shoulder and chin, but Nahog quickly recovered and fought back. Another bout of melee, which ended in a draw, but now both were fed up with fleeing. Nahog was completely losing himself in his rage as Gohan wasn't reacting like he wanted, while Gohan was more then pleased that they were fighting in one of the biggest open and empty areas in the world.

Both cupped their hands and their side, gathering energy that turned light blue and attacked.

"Kamehameha!" two identical voices shouted, the two beams colliding in the center and forming a larger orb of power. Gohan was immediately reminded of his fight with Cell. Both fighters continuously increased the amount of energy they were putting in the beams, the beams growing in size and intensity, but never moving from their stalemate.

'_Gohan, can you hear me?_' Piccolo's voice resonated in his head. For a second, Gohan lost control then regained himself, but Nahog had gained several inches in their beam struggle.

'_Piccolo, now's not exactly the best time, if these beams get out of hand, the Earth is doomed_'

'_Forget about the Earth._' The Namek's voice sounded amazed and worried at the same time, '_Those beams are packing enough power to destroy the entire solar system._'

'_So I need to focus._' Gohan was almost amused by the interaction with his teacher, but he really did need to focus more on the fight.

'_I know kid, but the girl wants to talk to you. __Here __she comes now._'

Piccolo's voice was suddenly replaced by Videl's, which would have made Gohan stumble if Piccolo hadn't warned him.

'_Gohan, listen, I know I don't have a lot of time, but I have to say this. I was wrong before. __You__ aren't evil and you don't have a god complex. I said some things I shouldn't have, because I was angry. I wanted to tell you, despite everything that went on, I know you're still a good person, I know you did the right thing. I was wrong to outright yell at you like that. I can't say I love you, not until I start getting to know the real you, but I know you didn't try to trick me. I know you have things that I do love, but before anything else, I want you to know… I do respect you, I always will, for everything you've done._'

Gohan listened with held breath, he nearly lost his newfound courage when she said she didn't love him, but what she said was even better. It wasn't an empty confession, it was truth. And it was a promise of things to come, of things that might be.

'_So, I've said what I wanted to say. Fight him, Gohan. Fight him and win, because you can't let him destroy the world._'

Gohan felt the telepathic link fade, but he didn't really care much. Like when he had made his earlier revelation, he felt a load fall off his shoulders, easing him in his moving. Videl didn't hate him! And she was supporting him; there was a promise of things yet to come. His courage boosted by Videl's words and unsaid promise, Gohan started flying closer, pushing the beams with him until he was practically floating next to Nahog, the center of the two Kamehameha's in between them. Nahog looked surprised by the sudden change in tactic, but couldn't do anything other then keep the beam powered up.

Gohan released one hand, gaining a slight disadvantage against Nahog, and placed it underneath the glowing blue orb of massive destruction. Slowly, pushing against the orb, he relocated the beams and himself, his back now pointing towards the sky. A look of understanding dawned on Nahog's face, immediately followed by a look of anger, but Gohan already executed his plan. He moved to the side, releasing his own Kamehameha as he did so, and allowed Nahog's beam to pass by unopposed. Without anything to stop it, the beam shot up into the sky, moving through the stratosphere and leaving earth entirely.

Gohan hoped that it didn't make contact with any other planet while the beam died down, but his attention was moved back to Nahog, smashing an elbow into the clone's face. Nahog, still busy releasing the beam, was helpless to stop Gohan's attack. Instead, when it hit, he didn't resist, moving in the direction and slamming into the ground below.

He reemerged an instant later, the ground around him exploding, but Gohan wasn't paying attention to that. Instead, his eyes were closed in concentration and grunting loudly. Hatred filled Nahog's eyes as he prepared to charge forward, but then something happened that he hadn't expected.

Gohan burst into three identical Gohans.

"Multi-form technique," Gohan announced, seeing the surprised look on Nahog's face. "I didn't know this technique until after you were created. I asked Piccolo to continue my training under him, teaching me some more of his techniques. Let's see how you like being outnumbered."

The three Gohan's rushed at Nahog all at once, one striking at his left, the other at his right and the final Gohan coming in from above while his arms were occupied. Gohan's kick hit Nahog straight in the face, stunning him and allowing the other two Gohans to strike at Nahog as well.

The double impact sent Nahog flying back a distance, giving the three Gohan's enough space to prepare their own energy attacks. Flying to the sides as they gathered energy, the three Gohans forced Nahog keep his attention on all three, or risk getting struck from behind.

"Kamehameha!" shouted one Gohan. Nahog fired a one-handed Kamehameha-beam back at him, halting the blast.

"Masenko!" Another Gohan shouted, one hand in front of the other and yellow energy shooting forward. Again, Nahog gathered energy into one hand and countered it, freezing the beams in mid-air.

However, the third Gohan, who was floating in the center, had it's index and middle fingers raised to it's forehead, small circles of power appearing around them, a triangle of energy at the fingers' tips. Nahog gasped, recognizing Piccolo's signature technique and realizing he had no way to stop it with both his hands occupied.

"It's over Nahog. You try to dodge now, either the Kamehameha or the Masenko will hit, together they're strong enough to kill you. And this attack will finish you off immediately. Special Beam Cannon!" The third Gohan's voice was triumphant as he pointed his fingers forward, the yellow-red beam moving forward, spirals appearing around it and heading straight for Nahog.

With the two other beams holding him in place, Nahog couldn't dodge, couldn't do anything as the third blast made contact and pierced his chest, shredding his torso and any organs that he had, incinerating them immediately.

Nahog's death was instant, no time to lament or curse or shout as every organ in his body was destroyed. The instant that Nahog started falling, the two other Gohans, who had fired the Kamehameha and Masenko were pulled back to the third Gohan like he was a magnet, slamming back into one person, who immediately dropped from the sky.

As Gohan crashed down in exhaustion, he saw the soft glow appearing in the distance. The light that signified his wish being granted; all the destruction caused since the clone's appearance was being restored_. '__I've__ done it.' _Gohan realized, already sensing Piccolo and the other rapidly approaching_. 'Finally... it's over. Nahog's dead. __The__ world's... safe. Videl... is... safe'_. A smile appeared on his face as he finally passed out

XXXxxxXXXxxx

Beta Note: Phew, and that's my workload lessened for a good while. Until Lucifer decides to do ANOTHER story and then it's back to the grind. Hope you all enjoyed this story and I feel privileged to have been the first person to read it in it's near entirety. So, for the penultimate time, this is Kushin eX authenticating a betaing.

The final chapter of ToaK, next up is the epilogue. Be sure to tell me what you thought of the chapter and the story as a whole.

IMPORTANT!**Author's note: to my great regret I have to inform you all, my readers, that for the time being I am unable to write the next few chapters of my three monthly stories. My internship, combined with my new job, keep me busy seven days a week and rob me off the time I would usually spend writing. . I am very sorry to have to put my stories on hiatus, but I will return to the stories when I am done with my internship. This will last till August, at which point I hope to be able to give you updates on a more regular basis **

**On that note, I will use what little spare time I have to try and improve my writing as well as work out the kinks in several storylines I have in mind. **


	26. Chapter 26  Epilogue

Disclaimer; I don't own DBZ or anything related to it.

XXXxxxXXXxxx

Gohan stretched as he slowly opened his eyes, warm light flooding the room, and tried to get his bearings. A flow of memories came over him as he lay in bed. He had done it! he had defeated Nahog! And he had talked with Videl through a psychic link and she didn't hate him!

As he sat on the side of the bed, Gohan realized that this day couldn't really get better unless his dad suddenly returned from the dead and walked through the door. Still sitting, Gohan looked around the room; it was familiar.

Seeing the red-and-purple colors decorating the room, along with the white stone walls, Gohan finally realized where he was; the Lookout. Gohan's surprise lasted a couple seconds before he remembered the wish he had made the night before he fought Nahog. Upon Nahog's death, all his destruction was to be undone.

While Gohan was still looking around in a daze, surprising himself with how glad he was to have the Lookout back, the door to his room opened. Turning around, Gohan was treated to the surprise of a lifetime. Bulma entered first, leading Videl, Erasa and – to Gohan's great relief and surprise – Sharpener in to see him.

Gohan's eyes were locked on the trio of teenagers, especially on Sharpener, who Gohan had considered to be his best friend, before Nahog showed up.

"Sharpener? But… but how? I saw you… I saw your…"

"My body?" the long-haired blond asked, a look of amusement on his face, "Yeah, I was dead. At least, that's what everyone keeps telling me, I don't remember anything about it."

"Hey Gohan, how're you feeling?" Erasa piped up, her face also lit up by a smile. Next to her, Videl stood with one hand on her hip.

"I, ehm, I'm good. And you guys?"

"We were pretty worried about you when you just wouldn't wake up. But everyone said that you were perfectly fine, just exhausted."

"How long was I out? I felt like I just had a good night's sleep."

"Well, you certainly had that," Krillin said as he stepped into the room as well, "you were out cold for three hole days."

"Three days? Guess I was more exhausted then I'd thought."

"Yeah, Piccolo told us you also needed to sleep off the stress from the last couple months, so we just let you rest instead of having Dende replenish your energy on the spot. But let me bring you up to speed, you don't know what's been happening lately."

Krillin walked over, leaning on the bed and pointed at Sharpener.

"As soon as we saw you defeat Nahog, Piccolo and Dende joined their powers and contacted New Namek. With Porunga's aid, we got our three additional wishes. Piccolo immediately set about reviving everyone who had been killed because of the clones, so combined with your wish to Shenron, it's literally nothing but a memory for all the people. No dead and no property damage remain. The second wish was to remove the knowledge of the dragon balls from everyone on earth who had learned of them through you. wars have been fought over the dragon balls when only a select few knew about them. I don't want to imagine what'd happen if the world at large would learn of their existence. Instead, we made everyone think you used some ancient magical artifact that drained you of all your superhuman powers in exchange for restoring everyone and everything that was damaged, destroyed or killed during the fighting."

Immediately Gohan's eyes sought out Videl, he vividly remembered how she had been opposed to altering people's memories to suit the wisher's purposes.

"Yeah, I was worried when they said they'd make that wish as well, but Krillin made a couple of arguments that I couldn't defeat. And this wasn't as bad as _erasing everyone's memories just to make them look good_."

Gohan dropped his head a bit, she wasn't about to let that one go, was she?

"Anyway," Krilllin continued, "we still had one wish left from Porunga and Videl wouldn't let us remove everyone's memories of Nahog's sheer existence, so we made another one. Initially we were going to have everyone know the truth of what happened, but that seemed sort of counterproductive when you were quickly growing into an international hero thanks to the Kais. So instead we wished for Porunga to strengthen the Lookout and Korin's Tower. Now, they can never be destroyed, as long as the earth itself still exists anyway."

"Wait, what?" Gohan's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "What did you just say? The world is seeing me as a hero? How?"

"Well, not sure if you figured it out or not, but the Kais used their magic to have everyone see the fight itself, so they saw you taking on Nahog mano-e-mano. That always stirs a couple hearts, but when you started taking hits for other villages, you were gold for them. People are still somewhat dived on you, but the general opinion is that you're a good guy. Gotta love divine intervention, right?"

"Wait, the Kais helped out? Why'd they do that? I mean, I'm grateful, but aren't they supposed to stay out of mortal affairs?"

"Normally, yes," Piccolo's voice immediately commanded a silence in the room, since Sharpener and Erasa had started chatting a bit, "They decided that Nahog's existence was too much of a threat to the Celestial Plan and had to interfere. But the only way that they can interfere – by sending in a warrior of their choice – took too long, so they did the next best thing. They chose you as their champion and used their magic to restore faith in you."

"And all the dead people? They can't remember seeing me fight, right?"

"Actually, I do." Sharpener was looking very intimidated as he looked up at Piccolo – then again, anyone standing next to the seven foot tall alien would look scared – "I'm not sure how, but I'm pretty sure I've seen you fight. there's a bit of a gap between Satan City and you fighting Nahog in the middle of nowhere, but I've definitely seen it. I'm trying not to think about it too much."

Gohan raized a quizzical eyebrow.

"Divine intervention bro, don't question it." Krillin advised, now sitting down on the bed. Bulma, who had been standing next to the door and observing the room more then joining in the conversation, finally stepped forward.

"Well, we're all chatting your ear off Gohan, while we just came to see how you're doing. We'll leave you to get some rest now, but if you're hungry; your mother has cooked quite a grand dinner to celebrate your victory. If you hurry, you might save some off it from Vegeta, Trunks, Goten and Yajirobi."

Gohan didn't need to be told twice. He immediately shot out of his bed and dashed towards the dining room, the others all remaining in the room and laughing. Gohan hadn't just been saying something to motivate himself in the fight; he really was starting to behave and react like Goku.

Food before anything!

XxX

The light was already fading outside, but neither detective Reginald, nor his partner Senior Detective Kaikaina prepared to leave for home. Instead, they simply sat behind their desks, switching between looking at their screens and each other.

"So, what do you think Kai?" Reginald asked, though he only wanted to break the silence.

"You damn well know what I think Reg." Kaikaina returned. "We are sitting on one of the biggest secrets in the past fucking decade, what'd you think I'm thinking?"

"Not just that, but about everything that happened last week. Us suddenly able to see that fight, two Gohans, Bulma Briefs giving a press statement about cloning research leading up to all the damage… and then everything we discovered after one Gohan killed the other. I'm not sure which of the two is a larger mindscrew…"

"Don't get me started. It all fits perfectly – which it would, of course, if it was the truth – and I'll admit I've been considering the possibility of a twin or a body double or something, but this is just too much. Seriously, cloning? Who thinks of that?"

"Look at the bright side; we were pretty much the only ones who considered the possibility of there being something fishy about Gohan's sudden personality change. Everyone else already assumed he was just a psycho."

The last couple of weeks, the duo had been working extensively with Videl and the girl's sharp and fresh mind had pointed out many things that they hadn't thought off before. But even with their three minds combined, they didn't reach a possibility anywhere near this.

"Reg, let's… let's just drop this shit, ok?" Kaikaina asked, leaning back in her chair and enjoying her last cigarette. She'd need to buy a new pack tomorrow. "I mean, normally I'd be all over this guy like a bloodhound, but what've we got on him? Our original charge was for multiple cases of first-degree murder, destruction of public property, acts of terrorism and causing discord amongst the people. But no-one is dead now, everyone's back alive, so I doubt we can catch him for murder. We kind of need a dead body, though I doubt even the judges would know how to deal with this kind of shit.

"and all the destruction that was caused by him has been immediately restored, so we can't nail that on him either. Terrorism is an act committed by a person or a group and we now know it was his clone who was doing the terrorism, but all the damages have been undone, so I doubt we can nail that one either. And causing discontent; after we all saw those damn images, he became public hero number one. I seriously doubt anyone will sue him for cuasing discord of that's how people think."

Reginald took a few seconds to think about it, but he already knew Kai was right. He had been going over a hundred and three different ways that he could possibly still catch Gohan Son and send him to jail, but there was literally no proof for his crimes. Cloning was unethical, but there were no laws against it – not yet anyone, if the current political storm, led by the Ox King, was any indication there'd be one within the month.

"I just hate letting the bad guys get away, especially when we know what he did."

"That's just the thing Reg; everyone knows he did it, but it wasn't really him. And more then that, EVERYTHING has been undone. There is no law that can claim anything about this, so there's no way to charge him with a crime. And from what I've come to understand, the real Gohan was as much a victim as the rest of us. As long as the rest of the world doesn't want him locked up, I say we don't bother. He can blast us from existance with a thought, so I say we don't mess with the guy. I've just got Gary back, no way am I going to let myself get killed because I can't leave the past behind. I'd suggest you do the same."

"Yeah, I know, I know. But still, you know." Reginald turned back to his computer screen, while Kaikaina leaned back to enjoy her cigarettes. Her fiancé had also returned after having been dead for nearly half a year. He had been one of victims in the initial battle between Nahog and Gohan's friends, over West City and she had been consumed by hatred for the entire time that he had been gone. Now, she was thoroughly confused and swung between overly happy and borderline depressed. If she didn't know any better, she'd almost swear she was pregnant!

"Stop staring at the screen or you'll leave here with square eyes Reg." Kai said after she had finished her cigarette and the younger man's eyes were still glued to the screen.

"I'm just… I'm thinking." He spoke very softly, afraid that anyone else might discover they existed and listen in. considering their new topic of conversation, Kaikaina wasn't surprised. All the clues they had found over the last weeks had let to another conclusion, one that both detectives wished they hadn't discovered. But they had opened the hole and now theyhad to look down to see what lay in that dark pit.

"I know." Kai leaned forward, pushing her cigarette into her ashtray. "But what are you thinking about, let me know."

"I'm… conflicted, I suppose." Reginald sighed and also leaned back. "my mind tells me that we have to tell the world about this. I mean, it's practically the biggest lie of the century and the entire world buys it daily, so I suppose it's just… wrong for so many people to be deceived."

"But?"

"But on the other hand, I've always admired Hercule, not just for his defeat of Cell, but for just who he was. He was… he was a symbol, a hero. Someone I've believed in while I finished my school, even before he defeated Cell. He is an inspiration to millions of people every day. Is it really right for us to destroy that hope for so many people?"

"Reg, I couldn't have said it better myself." Kaikaina mimicked his action by leaning back in her chair as well, contemplating what she'd do next.

Just this morning, they had finally pieced everything together. Gohan's age matched that of what had been the assumed age of 'The Delivery Boy' back at the Cell Games. Before that, it was possible he had been involved in the Saiyan Invasion some fifteen odd years ago. The tapes of those fights were unclear at best, but there had been one young boy among the fighters. The original tapes of the Cell Games had been even harder to obtain, but once they had seen them several times over, one thing became clear; Hercule couldn't have defeated Cell.

Seven years ago, the world had gladly believed the light blasts and teleportation's of the fighters in the Cell Games to be magic tricks, but with everything that they had learned from the Gohan-Nahog affair, it became quite clear that they were no tricks. Superhuman abilities, yes, but no tricks. It had still taken them nearly a week to finally admit the hard truth to themselves.

Hercule Satan, the Great Hero of the World, an inspiration to millions if not billions of people every day, the famed victor of Cell… was a fraud and a liar. He hadn't defeated Cell, he had merely claimed the credit for it. and if Kai's guess was right – it was impossible to know for certain, because there had been no images – it had been Gohan who had defeated the monster. He had been the last one to fight before the camera's went out and had been doing the best out of everyone involved.

"What'd you think we should do Kai?"

Kai looked up for a few seconds. It had been ages since Reg had asked for her guidance like that. he had grown into a more then decent detective and wasn't above asking advice, but this was nearly pleading. Kai thought about it, but realized that she really didn't have too.

"We do nothing, we say nothing and we destroy any evidence leading to this find." She said as she stood up from her chair, moving over to the window instead. She had a perfect view of the masses below, already moving along like nothing had ever happened.

"You said it yourself, Hercule is an icon, a hero and an inspiration. With all the shit that the world has been going through these last couple months, I think we should leave this little ray of light untouched. If it's a lie, at least it's a good one. No-one is hurt and a lot of people are helped. Hercule went through enough shit on his own thanks to Nahog, I don't think we need to add on it by completely destroying the man's life. If Gohan wanted to do that, he'd have done so when he was fighting Nahog. He obviously didn't, so we leave him alone. Agree?"

Reginald looked at his computer for a few seconds, considering his next action, before he pressed some buttons himself. The screen flashed for a few seconds, then cleared out.

"Agreed."

XxX

Nearly two months after he had woken up, Gohan stood waiting around in a street of Satan City. He knew he had to cross the street and he'd reach his objective, but for the first time since he was a little boy, fear had paralyzed Gohan.

He was instead stuck staring at the large building across the street. Orange Star High. For two months now Gohan had been recovering from all of Nahog's actions, he had been dragged from one courtroom to another, then was forced into press conferences all round. Finally, last week, all the chaos had stopped suddenly and Gohan was free to act as he pleased once again. Before he could so much sit down for a meal, his mother had suggested – ordered actually, but she managed to make it sound like a suggestion – that he return to school and finish his education.

Never mind that Gohan was now a world-famous superhuman warrior who could get any job he wanted – people rated him on par with Hercule as an inspiration for some reason – she thought he still had to finish his education.

But now, standing here in front of his school, Gohan was frozen in fear. The last time he had walked through those gates, it had been to be held in contempt by the entire school because everyone had thought him to be a mass rapist. It was a downright miracle they hadn't charged at him in hindsight.

What if everyone would look at him like that again? Gohan wasn't sure if he could take that, everyone staring at him like he was a monster. He had spend half a year fighting off a monstrous version of himself, but there was no telling how much people believed of the official story when they saw him in person.

People in the street mostly kept moving, not paying attention to anything but their own affairs, but every once in a while one of them looked at Gohan and either stopped walking or simply kept his eyes on Gohan as they walked by.

'_Come on Gohan, you've fought battles for the sake of the earth and even the universe. Don't chicken out on this, there's nothing in there that can hurt you._'

But that, too, was a lie. As Gohan had learned from Nahog's actions, there were plenty of ways that the people in the school could hurt him. Physically they were nowhere near a threat to him, but on an emotional level…

'_Come on, dad wouldn't be afraid of getting stared at and neither will I!_'

The reminder that Gohan was striving to be more like his father finally made the teenager move. Since the weather was nice and classes hadn't started yet the school's grounds were packed with the students, chatting and walking and sporting as they seemed fit. Gohan walked through the gates into the grounds, wearing his old school uniform, and looked around for a bit.

All around him people stopped what they were doing and stopped to look at him. People elbowed their neighbors to get their attention and pointed at him. Again, fear gripped Gohan's heart, but this time he forced himself to look around, see people's faces and try to read their eyes.

There, a group of the jocks had stopped their game of basketball, one of them clenching the ball against him in one arm, and stared at him. They didn't seem hostile, they weren't making a show of being tough against him either, but Gohan did feel something negative from them. Jealousy?

A bit to the side sat a cluster of what others often defined as nerds. They looked pretty ordinary to Gohan's eyes, with only two out of het ten or so having glasses but they all held either a book, a portable gaming device or they had been chatting about something'nerdy.' They sat on their seats, looking at him but there was no negativity from them. after a second or so of looking at them, a couple of them waved over at him, all of them smiling at him.

Next was a group of girls all clustered together, as soon as Gohan's eyes landed on them – each of them with her hair in some different style that brought out a part of their faces and various degrees of make up applied – they smiled and vigorously waved at him. A couple of them even blew kisses his way!

Gohan's eyes scanned further and further into the crowd of students, but there was no hatred that he could really find. Sure, some of the people didn't like him – Jocks and the Loners most of all – but other then that no-one seemed to be upset at Gohan's arrival.

Returning his eyes to the front, Gohan saw that the crowd had stepped aside a bit to allow passage for a special group. Special within the school because they didn't fit any traditional description and special to Gohan because they were his friends. Videl, Sharpener and Erasa were the first to step into the large circle that had formed around Gohan as he had stared at the crowd.

Sharpener, wearing his hair down and a sleeveless shirt as usual, gave Gohan a quick nod, the closest the man would get to showing affection to another man in front of a crowd. Erasa, wearing her favored green-striped tank-top gave him a wave, a wink and a smile. But Gohan's eyes were mostly on Videl. She stepped forward from the other two, closing the distance to Gohan but staying just far enough that Gohan couldn't reach her if he extended his arm.

Slowly, Videl raised her arm and held it out to Gohan, palm first. Gohan was surprised at the gesture, but didn't react immediately.

"Welcome back to Orange Star High, Gohan. It's been too long."

With a smile now growing on his own face, Gohan accepter her hand and let her pull him back into their group of four, turning and marching back into the school. Classes were about to begin, so the mass followed them inside, but Gohan paid it little attention.

Since his fight with Nahog, Gohan had been worried that his fate was now sealed, but this had proved it wrong. In the fight itself Videl had already stated that she didn't hate him, that she knew he was a good guy. It wasn't as good as the confession he had been hoping for in the depths of his heart, but it was better then the rejection he had feared. He still had a chance to make his life right, to make things work with Videl. The old saying was right; Time heals all wounds.

And now that Nahog was dead and no other threat remained, Gohan had plenty of time.

XXXxxxXXXxxx

Do your thing


End file.
